3 ways to find a job with good work-life balance in 2024

3 ways to find a job with good work-life balance in 2024

By Kirstie McDermott

When you consider the countries globally where workers put in the most hours, it's not too a stretch to assume the U.S. is one of them. However, according to the latest data from the OECD, Columbia, Costa Rica, Chile and South Korea actually log more hours than American workers do.

The U.S. comes in 12th place globally, with around 1,811 hours per employee per year. For those who work full-time, the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that a 40-hour workweek amounts to 2,080 working hours annually––a considerable jump up from part time hours, for example.

And then, of course, some industries tend to log more hours than others, with financial services being known as a particularly punitive sector to work in. In bulge bracket banks like JPMorgan Chase, analyst-level investment bankers work around 60-80 hours a week, and some weeks, bankers can rack up more than 100 hours.

In 2021, a leaked Goldman Sachs work conditions survey revealed that the average number of hours its bankers put in each week was 98, with an average bedtime of 3am, netting them about five hours of sleep.

That's a punishing schedule by anyone's reckoning, and it is also not something many workers can do for very long before their mental and physical health begins to suffer.

With 60% of US workers claiming they struggle to create a boundary between work and home life, this is highlighted by the new reality many experienced during the pandemic, where working from home gave workers more time back, as well as a means for balancing family responsibilities, for example.

So if you'd like to recalibrate your work-life balance this year, what can you do? It turns out, quite a lot. Below, discover three ways to help get more of your own valuable time back.

Management-based over output-based
For starters, managers get paid more than their subordinates, which is one great incentive for seeking to move up to a managerial position.

While you often tend to do less of the work you enjoy in favor of managing your team's output, the clear difference here is that you can delegate some of the tasks you find most tedious or time-consuming.

Sure, you will have other, newer responsibilities to handle too, but moving away from work that is extremely labor intensive can have a positive impact on your stress and burnout levels. In fact, data from the Pew Research Center found that 83% of top managers said they were very satisfied with their home life.

Consider federal jobs
Private sector jobs may be more lucrative in many cases, but there is a lot to recommend a government role. You may be capped on salary but you'll rarely exceed a 40-hour working week. There is a lot of scope too, from jobs in the state department, multiple government agencies, as well as in municipal governments nationwide.

Additionally, federal employees start with 13 paid vacation days a year, with the number of PTO days increasing with length of service.

You'll get 11 days of paid holidays too, including Labor day, Thanksgiving, and New Year's Day, plus 13 days of paid sick leave annually (regardless of your length of service), and there is no limit to the amount of sick leave that you can accumulate. Flexible and compressed work arrangements are also available.

Think remote or hybrid roles
A study by Tracking Happiness found that the ability to work remotely increases employee happiness by as much as 20%. This finding isn't a huge surprise, as workers, freed from commute times and office-based distractions, find that not only are they more productive, but they often have more time for themselves.

Whether that's used to walk the dog, pick the kids up from daycare or simply get some laundry done, many workers find that the benefits of remote working outweigh any negatives.

Inspired to seek a role with a better balance? Then your first stop should be the Financial Planning Job Board. It contains thousands of jobs all across the country, like these three below.

This Sr. Financial Analyst role at Toppan Merrill is a remote position where you will be responsible for business line financial analysis and financial support leadership. You will need five to seven years' experience and a BA in finance.

At Charles Schwab, hybrid work and flexibility approaches are designed to balance ongoing commitments to workplace flexibility. If that appeals, this Senior Specialist Bank Accounting job in Lone Tree might be a fit. You will be responsible for the financial books and records of the bank subsidiaries and trust companies of Charles Schwab Corporation, including accounting for loans, deposits, and investment portfolios.

Or, consider this VP - Compliance TDS job at TD Bank in New York, where teams work in one of three workplace models: hybrid, onsite and primarily remote. You will maintain the firm's watch and restricted list on a regular basis, monitor interactions and communications between research and investment banking, and handle regulatory inquiries and conflict management.

Accelerate your job hunt today via the Financial Planning Job Board