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The Land Down Under has made the cut as one of the countries with the highest rates of “life-work” balance in the world, outranking the likes of Denmark, Norway and the United Kingdom.
In a new study from global employment platform Remote, Australia was ranked fourth among the 60 highest GDP nations across the world that offer employees life-work balance – a term that suggests that employees have a healthy relationship between their careers and personal lives.
By evaluating factors such as minimum wage, sick leave, maternity leave, healthcare availability, public happiness, average working hours and LGBTQ+ inclusivity, the countries were ranked on a scale of 100 to determine the overall rating.
Christopher McNamara, chief revenue officer at Remote, said the study comes in light of recent data from career guidance website Zippia, which revealed more than three-quarters of employees have experienced burnout in their current roles.
And though Australians appear to have a level of balance in their lives, a recent report from the University of Melbourne also indicated burnout was on the rise among Aussie employees, with around 50 per cent of “prime aged” workers aged between 18 and 54 reported feeling exhausted at work.
“We conducted our global life-work balance study to highlight the possibility for people to find a better balance that allows them to get the most out of both their personal lives and career,” Mr McNamara explained.
He highlighted the firm’s belief that employees’ mindset should flip to be life first, work second – hence the coining of the term life-work balance.
“Everyone should be able to enjoy both personal fulfillment and professional success, no matter where they live,” Mr McNamara said.
With an overall index score of 73.71, Australia ranked behind New Zealand (79.35), Spain (75.55) and France (75.34).
But even as the Land Down Under lags behind its Kiwi neighbor in the overall ranking, data reveals that workers in Australia and New Zealand are among the most generously paid globally.
“Australia being one of the top 10 nations on our global life-work balance list, highlights that Aussies are leading the way for a brighter future of work by embracing this philosophy and offering the infrastructure to support it,” Mr McNamara noted.
Other countries in the list included Denmark ( 73.67), Norway (73.05), the Netherlands (69.14), the United Kingdom (69.07), Canada (67.91) and Brazil (67.73).
Notably, Europe leads the way in the life-work balance findings, with European nations making up six of the top 10 countries in Remote’s study.
According to Mr McNamara, the study provided insight into different working cultures across the globe and how each approached the concept of life-work balance.
“Oceania indicates a modern and strong work culture with emphasis on support and inclusivity,” he added.
And although burnout has become a “hot topic” among workplace cultures in the media, he said there is still a long way to go before “true life-work balance” can be achieved globally.
“While the world of work has come a long way since embracing remote-first attitudes and flexibility, there’s still work to be done across the globe to strike a perfect balance between our personal and professional selves,” he concluded.
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