The diverse pressures on the modern woman have made for discussions on various platforms, and the solution has always been one — work-life balance. Now, a study by Accenture confirms that working women value this balance the most — even above money.
While the working population in the country has voted work-life balance, money and recognition as the three defining factors for career success, women and men have starkly different priorities.
Juggling various roles with grace at home and office, almost 70 per cent of working Indian women attach utmost importance to work-life balance, while only 42 per cent of the male respondents considered this factor to be crucial. The survey also found that a lot more women (72 per cent) than men (58 per cent) either turn down or do not pursue an otherwise desirable job for fear of disturbing this work-life equilibrium. Almost 65 per cent of the Indian respondents said they had turned down jobs for this reason.
More men (44 per cent) consider money to be more important.
Indians seem to wear their optimism and ‘never say never’ attitude on their sleeves. A good number believe they can ‘have it all’, money, success, good work-life balance, and yet they lead the way in taking work home — and to their vacation.
While a majority (60 per cent) of Indians (52 per cent men and 68 per cent women) believes in the importance of taking time out from work to maintain a healthy life balance, and a whopping 87 per cent of the workforce surveyed admitted to working even during paid vacations.
But, it is the younger, driven generation that is the biggest culprit in this regard. The Accenture survey found that more Gen-Y (born in the 1990s or after) employees work during their vacation in India than in other countries. In the UK and US, baby-boomers (people born after the World War II, between 1946 and 1964) took work more seriously.
However, despite being hard workers, the Gen-Y employees in India are not as satisfied as the older generation.
According to the survey, “Baby boomers in India (61 per cent), as well as in US (68 per cent) are found to be most satisfied with their current jobs, while majority of Gen-Y respondents constantly seek new opportunities outside.”
The online survey was conducted among 4,100 business executives from medium to large organisations across 33 countries and a minimum of 100 respondents participated from each country.