Last Tuesday, USA Today published our recent survey results regarding current attitudes towards work-life balance on the front of their “Money” section. During our 2012 Labor Day study of 1,096 working adults, we asked,
“Is it possible to have it all when it comes to work-life balance?”
The result? 67% of respondents answered “Yes” while 33% said “No”.
And interestingly there is no significant difference here between women (68%) and men (66%) voting “Yes”. So it doesn’t come as a surprise that we’ve seen this sentiment echoed throughout the media recently, in light of Governor Romney’s remarks during the second presidential debate where he stated,
“I recognized that if you’re going to have women in the workforce, that sometimes the need to be more flexible… What we can do to help young women and women of all ages is to have a strong economy, so strong that employers are looking to find good employees and bringing them into their workforce and adapting to a flexible work schedule that gives women the opportunities that they would otherwise not be able to afford.”
As soon as Romney implied that workplace flexibility was a women’s issue, and possibly even a concession, aggravated people everywhere started engaging in heated online debates about “Romney’s assumptions”.
Every day at Mom Corps, we bear witness to the fact that workplace flexibility is an issue for all people – men and women alike. During our survey, we found that people desire flexible work so much that,
“52% of working adults would be interested in starting their own business in order to achieve a better work-life balance, led by men age 35-44 (75%).”
Further, our business is evidence to the fact that workplace flexibility is not just an added perk for employees, but a strategic way for businesses to build and retain loyal, productive, and efficient teams. We are way past “preaching” the benefits of workplace flexibility, and find ourselves “teaching” companies how to implement successful flex programs. We’ve even started a new business blog for clients where we share ideas, real-life case studies, and blueprints on topics such as:
- Maximizing work/life alignment for business success
- Implementing successful workplace flexibility
- Measuring the effectiveness of your program
- Strategic alternative staffing
We are thrilled to see workplace flexibility in the headlines, as we all continue to push this cultural movement forward into the mainstream. Like you, we still believe we must strive for a better world where work and life align into complementary parts of a whole, sustainable life for ourselves, our families, and our communities.