Is Work-Life Balance Bunk?
NEW YORK–Every day another major corporation announces the opening of new offices in China, Dubai or India. With a corresponding increase in international work assignments, a new survey from ORC Worldwide® shows the delicate equilibrium between personal and professional life is clearly at its tipping point. The 2007 Expatriate Work-Life Balance Survey reveals that more than half (55 percent) of international assignees are weighed down by added stress caused by longer hours, extended work days/weeks and cultural differences, among other factors. And more telling still are the 74 percent who feel their companies are not doing enough to help alleviate the causes. “Work-life balance is undoubtedly a top-of-mind issue for both employees trying to juggle personal and career obligations, and employers who want to retain those employees while needing to compete successfully in an aggressive international marketplace,” said Siobhan Cummins, Managing Director EMEA, ORC Worldwide, London. “Yet,
