Over half of UK employees work regularly eats into their personal life

Despite nearly half (48%) of UK workers taking action to improve the blend of job and home during the COVID crisis, 1 in 2 (52%) admit that work interferes with their personal lives on a regular basis

35% of over 2,000 UK employees surveyed by Glassdoor said that a healthy balance simply isn’t possible in their current role.

Two-thirds (66%) of workers intend to make changes to improve their current work-life balance and are looking for employers to offer a better solution to help them protect their personal life.

For a third (36%), a good balance between home and work life is flexible working hours.

A further 32% want choice in where they work and 1 in 4 (23%) want a reduced working week.

Generous paid time-off is important to another 24% and 3 in 10 (28%) want the ability to switch between work and personal life throughout the day as needed.

With 8 in 10 employees stating that work-life balance would be a key consideration when looking for their next role, the survey suggests that employers should consider a range of initiatives that make a healthy balance between life and work achievable.

Lauren Thomas, economist at Glassdoor, said: “Although the COVID crisis has shone a spotlight on the delicate balance between work and home, employees have been increasingly talking about mental health since 2018,”

“Discussions around wellbeing saw an immediate spike after the first lockdown in March 2020, however, it appears that employees are now feeling the impact of 18 months of change as mentions of burnout have increased 128% since April 2021.

“This suggests that employers are not fully meeting the needs of their workforce.”