As employees are logging more hours, work-life balance has become an increasingly important factor to overall satisfaction in the workplace. To find out which companies support work-life balance, we turned to Glassdoor, which put together a list of the top 25 companies that encourage their workers to also have personal lives.
“In today’s highly-connected world, striving for work-life balance can feel virtually impossible given greater access to our jobs around the clock,” says Rusty Rueff, Glassdoor career and workplace expert and co-author of Talent Force: A New Manifesto for the Human Side of Business. “Companies that make sincere efforts to recognize employees’ lives outside of the office will often see the payoff when it comes to recruiting and retaining top talent.”
Some of the companies that made it onto this list also made it on Glassdoor's rankings of the best companies to work for, and 11 tech companies are represented in this report.
To break any ties, Glassdoor calculated ratings to the thousandth decimal. "This is why, for example, Facebook, which has a 4.1 rating, did not crack the Top 25 this year," Scott Dobroski, Glassdoor's spokesman, told us. "They were very, very close, but when we look at ratings to the thousandth, other companies beat them.
Hence, the rankings reflect that."
Company ratings are based on a 5.0 scale.
Work-life balance rating: 4.1 What employees think:
“Fluor so far has had the best benefits, vacation, and compensation package I have had. I am disappointed I no longer work for this caliber of a company and highly recommend working for them.” – Fluor Mechanical Engineer (Sugar Land, TX)
“Employees can even apply to work abroad at the many Fluor offices around the world. Some other cool perks: Every second Friday off, and quarterly gathering of all employees for food and drinks.” – Fluor employee (Calgary, AB, Canada)
Source: Glassdoor
Work-life balance rating: 4.1 What employees think:
“Freedom and flexibility make working at Gore more rewarding. Fellow associates quickly become your best friends.” – W.L. Gore Corporate Services Employee (Newark, DE)
“The work-life-balance is great and I don't feel overworked or stressed.” – W.L. Gore Product Development Engineer (Flagstaff, AZ)
“Good work/life balance. Technical innovation and freedom to be creative. Power of small teams and strong peer to peer community.” – W.L. Gore Employee (Newark, DE)
Source: Glassdoor
Work-life balance rating: 4.1 What employees think:
“Understanding boss, great co-workers, never a dull moment in the job; you stay active and makes the shift fly by.” – Former NAVTEQ Traffic Editor (Pittsburgh, PA)
“Good work /life balance . . . No high pressure to work overtime” – NAVTEQ Manager (Boston, MA)
“Laid back environment, Good work life balance” – NAVTEQ Staff Accountant (Chicago, IL)
Source: Glassdoor
Work-life balance rating: 4.1 What employees think:
Work-life balance rating: 4.1 What employees think:
“Great place to work while raising kids because of the flexible work schedules” – Southern California Edison Financial Analyst III (Rosemead, CA)
Work-life balance rating: 4.2 What employees think:
“You are expected to come in do good work, and then go home and have a life. The company really seems to care about employee health and well being. Everything from the gym, healthy food, to health check incentives.” –Hitachi Data Systems Senior Platform Engineer (Santa Clara, CA)
“Very flexible and friendly. Flat structure. It’s like a family. The CEO and Leadership team are very accessible.” – Hitachi Data Systems Sales Director (Sydney, Australia)
Source: Glassdoor
Work-life balance rating: 4.2 What employees think:
“Very flexible work schedule. Working from home options. I work from home twice a week. If you do good work, your manager leaves you alone to do your work without micro management.” – Citrix Systems Employee (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
“One of the best companies in terms of work culture and environment and less pressure on the employee. He can balance between work and life.” - Citrix Systems Software Dev-Test Engineer (Bangalore, India)
Source: Glassdoor
Work-life balance rating: 4.2 What employees think:
“There is a very strong team culture in the Ads/BI department. They are flexible with many different things which makes working there very rewarding and allows a strong work life balance.” – WayFair Paid Acquisition Analyst (Boston, MA)
“There is both an appreciation of work hard / play hard and a strong work/life balance in the company.” – WayFair Employee (Boston, MA)
“The workplace culture is very good at providing work-life balance and there is a very strong team culture.” – WayFair Acquisition Analyst (Boston, MA)
Source: Glassdoor
Work-life balance rating: 4.2 What employees think:
“Good work life balance and you are not expected to work long hours. Work with other smart, young, energetic people.” – Morningstar Director Business Development (Chicago, IL)
“Work and life is well balanced.” – Morningstar Applications Developer (New Delhi, India)
Source: Glassdoor
Work-life balance rating: 4.2 What employees think:
“Work to life balance is excellent. People are friendly. Place is modern and has lots of opportunity.” – Discover Project Manager (Riverwoods, IL)
“Laid-back culture, the work schedule is 9 to 5, no need to work overtime most [of the] time, good gym.” – Discover Manager (Riverwoods, IL)
Source: Glassdoor
Work-life balance rating: 4.2 What employees think:
“In today’s highly-connected world, striving for work-life balance can feel virtually impossible given greater access to our jobs around the clock,” says Rusty Rueff, Glassdoor career and workplace expert and co-author of Talent Force: A New Manifesto for the Human Side of Business. “Companies that make sincere efforts to recognize employees’ lives outside of the office will often see the payoff when it comes to recruiting and retaining top talent.”
Some of the companies that made it onto this list also made it on Glassdoor's rankings of the best companies to work for, and 11 tech companies are represented in this report.
To break any ties, Glassdoor calculated ratings to the thousandth decimal. "This is why, for example, Facebook, which has a 4.1 rating, did not crack the Top 25 this year," Scott Dobroski, Glassdoor's spokesman, told us. "They were very, very close, but when we look at ratings to the thousandth, other companies beat them.
Hence, the rankings reflect that."
Company ratings are based on a 5.0 scale.
25. FLUOR
Jim Migdal
“Fluor so far has had the best benefits, vacation, and compensation package I have had. I am disappointed I no longer work for this caliber of a company and highly recommend working for them.” – Fluor Mechanical Engineer (Sugar Land, TX)
“Employees can even apply to work abroad at the many Fluor offices around the world. Some other cool perks: Every second Friday off, and quarterly gathering of all employees for food and drinks.” – Fluor employee (Calgary, AB, Canada)
Source: Glassdoor
24. W.L. Gore
Mozilla crew circa 2007
Flickr/fmg2001
“Freedom and flexibility make working at Gore more rewarding. Fellow associates quickly become your best friends.” – W.L. Gore Corporate Services Employee (Newark, DE)
“The work-life-balance is great and I don't feel overworked or stressed.” – W.L. Gore Product Development Engineer (Flagstaff, AZ)
“Good work/life balance. Technical innovation and freedom to be creative. Power of small teams and strong peer to peer community.” – W.L. Gore Employee (Newark, DE)
Source: Glassdoor
23. NAVTEQ
Glassdoor
“Understanding boss, great co-workers, never a dull moment in the job; you stay active and makes the shift fly by.” – Former NAVTEQ Traffic Editor (Pittsburgh, PA)
“Good work /life balance . . . No high pressure to work overtime” – NAVTEQ Manager (Boston, MA)
“Laid back environment, Good work life balance” – NAVTEQ Staff Accountant (Chicago, IL)
Source: Glassdoor
22. Bain & Company
Glassdoor
“Great place in terms of work/life balance. Managers are very fair about letting employees use their vacation time and are understanding when unexpected scenarios present themselves.” – Bain & Company Employee (Boston, MA)
“Work-life balance -- obviously consulting stinks but at least Bain tried (weekly health checks, meetings on how to make life better).” – Bain & Company Employee (location n/a)
Source: Glassdoor
“Work-life balance -- obviously consulting stinks but at least Bain tried (weekly health checks, meetings on how to make life better).” – Bain & Company Employee (location n/a)
Source: Glassdoor
21. Southern California Edison
Kelly Jang
“Great place to work while raising kids because of the flexible work schedules” – Southern California Edison Financial Analyst III (Rosemead, CA)
“Company has good benefits, pay, and work life balance and is a great place to work while raising kids because of the flexible work schedules” – Southern California Edison Financial Analyst III (Rosemead, CA)
“Edison has been a work-life balance company. By nature of the organization, Edison offers numerous opportunities in different locales across various disciplines.” – Southern California Edison Employee (location n/a)
Source: Glassdoor
“Edison has been a work-life balance company. By nature of the organization, Edison offers numerous opportunities in different locales across various disciplines.” – Southern California Edison Employee (location n/a)
Source: Glassdoor
20. Hitachi Data Systems
Glassdoor
“You are expected to come in do good work, and then go home and have a life. The company really seems to care about employee health and well being. Everything from the gym, healthy food, to health check incentives.” –Hitachi Data Systems Senior Platform Engineer (Santa Clara, CA)
“Very flexible and friendly. Flat structure. It’s like a family. The CEO and Leadership team are very accessible.” – Hitachi Data Systems Sales Director (Sydney, Australia)
Source: Glassdoor
19. Citrix Systems
Glassdoor
“Very flexible work schedule. Working from home options. I work from home twice a week. If you do good work, your manager leaves you alone to do your work without micro management.” – Citrix Systems Employee (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
“One of the best companies in terms of work culture and environment and less pressure on the employee. He can balance between work and life.” - Citrix Systems Software Dev-Test Engineer (Bangalore, India)
Source: Glassdoor
18. WayFair
Glassdoor
“There is a very strong team culture in the Ads/BI department. They are flexible with many different things which makes working there very rewarding and allows a strong work life balance.” – WayFair Paid Acquisition Analyst (Boston, MA)
“There is both an appreciation of work hard / play hard and a strong work/life balance in the company.” – WayFair Employee (Boston, MA)
“The workplace culture is very good at providing work-life balance and there is a very strong team culture.” – WayFair Acquisition Analyst (Boston, MA)
Source: Glassdoor
17. Morningstar
Glassdoor
“Good work life balance and you are not expected to work long hours. Work with other smart, young, energetic people.” – Morningstar Director Business Development (Chicago, IL)
“Work and life is well balanced.” – Morningstar Applications Developer (New Delhi, India)
Source: Glassdoor
16. Discover
Flickr/Laughing Squid
“Work to life balance is excellent. People are friendly. Place is modern and has lots of opportunity.” – Discover Project Manager (Riverwoods, IL)
“Laid-back culture, the work schedule is 9 to 5, no need to work overtime most [of the] time, good gym.” – Discover Manager (Riverwoods, IL)
Source: Glassdoor
15. Slalom Consulting
Glassdoor
“Highly flexible work environment - you can really live the consulting lifestyle here! No travel unless you want to. Great salary and vacation.” – Slalom Consulting Consultant (Portland, OR)
“Balance Life concept is enforced, this helps workaholic like me.” – Slalom Consulting Senior Solution Architect (Dallas, TX)
“There is more flexibility than with many companies on dealing with life balance issues.” – Slalom Consulting Management Consultant (Seattle, WA)
Source: Glassdoor
“Balance Life concept is enforced, this helps workaholic like me.” – Slalom Consulting Senior Solution Architect (Dallas, TX)
“There is more flexibility than with many companies on dealing with life balance issues.” – Slalom Consulting Management Consultant (Seattle, WA)
Source: Glassdoor