It’s no secret that lack of an adequate work-life balance can lead to numerous detrimental outcomes, such as burnout or health problems, just to name a couple. That’s why it’s important to evaluate if the extra hours or the crazy schedule is really worth spreading yourself thin over.
This redditor wasn’t willing to sacrifice their health for a job in a company where certain higher ups didn’t seem to have a problem with a lack of work-life balance. Not only that, they failed to honor the agreements they set in place when they hired the OP, which eventually resulted in huge losses for said company. Scroll down to find the full story below.
Good employees are not easy to find, but they might be easy to lose
Image credits: Kateryna Babaieva / pexels (not the actual photo)
This employee wasn’t willing to sacrifice their health for the company that failed to honor the agreement they had
Image credits: RF._.studio / pexels (not actual photo)
Image credits: Pixabay / pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Tima Miroshnichenko / pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Bobur Mavlonov / unsplash (not the actual photo)
Image credits: microwavable_rat
Some people have to sacrifice important things, like friends and hobbies, because of work
In the fast-paced life that many people nowadays are living, quite a few of them are overworked. Whether because of a workaholic boss expecting their employees to follow their lead or an unbearable workload, such employees often have to make sacrifices in order to keep up. A healthy work-life balance for them is a lot like a mirage – oh so beautiful, yet oh so unattainable.
The things said individuals are willing to give up for work tend to differ from person to person, but some are quite significant, such as time with kids or health. The OP, for example, considered their health more important than the company’s profit; however, a multi-year poll, carried out over more than two decades (1987-2008) found that more than half (56%) of people sacrifice their sleep, which can have significant detrimental effects on their health.
A similar number of people admitted having chosen work over recreation and hobbies—52% and 51% respectively—and as many as 44% shared having sacrificed friendships. Roughly a third of respondents said they have sacrificed family to some extent, too, which comes as no surprise, bearing in mind that back in 1987, roughly half of them said they’d eat at least one family meal a day, but the number shrunk to one-in-five by the year 2008.
A healthy work-life balance is one of the most sought-after things for people in the workforce
Even though some people are willing to sacrifice their friends and family, and even sleep for work, others definitely aren’t. As a matter of fact, many people nowadays value a healthy work-life balance nearly as much as they do financial compensation, which for many is the main driving factor in their career decisions.
Randstad’s Workmonitor 2023 survey found that the share of respondents who said that pay was important was 93.8%, while the number of people who considered work-life balance important was 93.7%. Not only that, the majority of surveyed individuals said that they wouldn’t accept a role which negatively affected their work-life balance.
The OP decided not to stay in such a role, either, which is something fellow netizens in the comments applauded them for. Discussing the topic with the redditor, users emphasized that health comes first, and taking that seriously seemingly led the OP to an even better position, as they shared that their new company had a much better work-life balance.
The redditor provided more details in the comments, where fellow netizens shared their opinions
