Going back home from work and forgetting all the unresolved questions you’ve dealt with. Do you think that this scenario is possible?

For some people, not returning to work emails in their free time is the norm. However, for others, work can be an obstacle that keeps on stealing their family time. Nevertheless, the exact numbers are available in the latest work life balance statistics.

Now:

Are you ready to know all about the number of employees who can’t switch off once they come home from work? Or maybe about the Canadians who have it figured out and are successful in maintaining a work-life balance?

Check out the stats below.

2024 Updates:

The Most Staggering Work Life Balance Stats (Editor’s Choice)

• Up to 3.7 million Canadians feel significant levels of stress due to work.
• 43% of Canadian workers believe that COVID-19 will put an end to the nine-to-five in-office jobs.
• Around 40% of Canadians are working from home due to the pandemic.
• $125 billion to $190 billion is the estimated cost of employee burnout physical and psychological problems.
• Many employees spend 40.1% of their day multitasking.
• Employers that provide better work-life balance have a 25% lower employee turnover.
• 32% of Canadians have missed a lifestyle engagement due to work.

General Work-Life Balance Statistics Canada

Knowing when to take a break is essential to our well-being. Yet, sometimes we’re just not able to implement a good work-life balance. Let’s take a look at some important data on this subject.

1. Up to 56% of Canadians who work full-time say that work comes before their lifestyle.

(Source: Insights West)

Most Ontarian men aged 18 to 34 think that achieving a work-life balance is nearly impossible. Work life in Canada is quite daunting, which is why imbalances happen in the first place. The reason for the lack of a work-life balance is staying late in the office (56%).

Also, the other reasons for disruptions of the life and work cycle are due to replying to a work email while being with family and friends (35%); receiving a work call in their free time (29%); working from home at night (33%), and working from home on the weekend (33%).

2. 32% of Canadians have missed a lifestyle engagement due to work.

(Source: Insights West)

You might be wondering:

How important is work-life balance for millennials?

Here is the answer, backed up with some statistics. Millennials are more likely to miss a family gathering than their older counterparts – Generation X and Baby Boomers.

Up to 43% of Millennials will miss a family gathering or a leisure activity because of work. However, only 31% of Generation X and 18% of Baby Boomers would prioritize work. So, we can conclude that Millennials would focus on work, while most older generations would choose family over career.

3. Two in five Canadians say work poses a strain on their relationships with their family and friends.

(Source: Insights West)

About 41% of Canadians who are full-time employees say that work-life balance is more difficult to achieve now than the work-life balance that their parents had in the past. Only 25% of Canadians say their parents had a more difficult time than they are facing.

4. Up to 3.7 million Canadians feel significant levels of stress due to work.

(Source: DCM group)

According to the workplace statistics in Canada and the stress that Canadians are feeling at work, about 15% of them are actively disengaged from their jobs. Up to 60% are not engaged, while 25% are marked as simply “engaged.”

Even though it may sound strange, the survey reveals up to 75% of the Canadian workforce feel miserable and numb.

5. 43% of Canadian workers believe COVID-19 will put an end to the nine-to-five in-office jobs.

(Source: HR Reporter)

As a result, with the end of the nine-to-five workday, 8 in 10 Canadians believe that there will be more balance of work and family life. Canada labour code work-life balance figures show that about 56% of IT and financial workers expect a better work-life balance after the pandemic.

The second group on the list, with 45%, is in the manufacturing and retail industry. Also, 48% of full-time workers expect positive work-life outcomes after the pandemic, compared to 40% of part-time employees.

6. Canadian single parents are 9% less satisfied with the work-life balance than couple parents.

(Source: Stat Canada)

Work-life balance in Canadian workplaces mostly depends on the demographic. So, about 76% of couple parents are satisfied with their work-life balance, while about 67% of lone parents report being satisfied with their work-life balance.

Also, when it comes to couple parents, women show 5% fewer satisfaction levels than men. This is because women tend to have more family responsibilities than men.

7. Parents with children younger than four years are 5% less satisfied with the work-life balance than parents who have kids aged 5 to 17.

(Source: Stat Canada)

Parents with younger children have more obligations at home. Also, among the couples, men show more satisfaction than women. Up to 75% of men were satisfied with their life-work balance, while women were 7% less satisfied.

8. People from Ontario are the least likely to return to their workplace (46%) vs. the national average (53%).

(Source: News Wire)

Work-life balance in Ontario shows that Ontarians prefer flexible hours (31% compared to 28%). Besides, people from Prairies say they are the least likely to return to the workplace. People from British Columbia or Alberta are most likely to believe that there will be no drastic changes in how Canadians will work in the future.

9. 61% of younger working Canadians say they prefer to work remotely three days a week.

(Source: News Wire)

61% of young workers aged 18-34 are particularly drawn to remote work. The research conducted by IWG shows that 85% of Canadians would turn down a job if the employer doesn’t offer flexible working.

So, what percentage of Canadian companies offer flexible working hours?

Here’s the scoop:

The most recent survey showed around 86% of companies provide flexible work options.

10. Around 40% of the population in Canada is working from home.

(Source: Investment Executive)

How many people work from home in Canada?

According to the statistics, 5 million people started working from home due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and 1.8 million people were already working remotely. The home-working population represents 39.1% of the employees in Canada.

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Global Employee Work Life Balance Statistics

Now that we’ve covered Canada, let’s see how the Great White North compares to other countries. Let’s dig in.

11. 33% of employees in Turkey work long hours.

(Source: OECD Better Life Index & Internations)

A staggering 33% of Turkish employees are working long hours. Mexico is next, with almost 29%, followed by Colombia, with nearly 27%. The average time for leisure and personal care for Turkish workers is 14.8 hours. Turkey is clearly one of the countries with the worst work-life balance, but which country has the best work-life balance?

Check this out:

According to the OECD’s work life balance stats, the Netherlands is the country with the best work life balance. Around 75% of Dutch people are happy with their work-life balance, as well as their working hours.

12. Up to 72% of Americans think work life balance is a very important factor when choosing a job.

(Source: Statista)

About 23% of Americans think work-life balance is somewhat important when choosing a job. Only 4% say that “work-life balance is not very important to them,” and just 1% think work-life balance is not important at all.

13. About 13% of Australian employees work very long hours, which is above the average.

(Source: OECD Better Life Index)

In addition, the more people work, the less time they have for leisure activities or personal care, which disrupts their work-life balance. For instance, work life balance statistics show full-time Australian employees devote up to 60% of their time to personal care and leisure activities.

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Poor Work-Life Balance Statistics

Have you ever experienced burnout? Take a look at the numbers below to see just how serious it is.

14. US$125 billion to US$190 billion is the estimated cost of the physical and psychological problems of employee burnout in the US.

(Source: Forbes & H Exchange Network)

One of the most common health issues in the workspace is chronic stress. The stress trends will continue in the future, but employers can change that trend if they maintain a healthy work-life balance for their employees. This will bring less stressed workers who don’t get frequent burnouts.

The thing is:

According to the latest work life balance statistics, employees who work overtime for a long time have a high risk of burnout. Stress and burnout statistics also show us that nearly two-thirds of employees who work full-time experience burnout at some point while at work.

15. 27% of Canadian workers experience high or extreme levels of stress on a daily basis.

(Source: The Magazine)

One in four Canadians experiences work-related high stress on a daily basis. Workplace stress trends show us that low-income workers generally have a lower amount of stress than high-income workers. One survey conducted by the firm Accountemps found that 9 in 10 workers in Canada feel burnout from work.

16. Many employees spend 40.1% of their day multitasking.

(Source: Blog.Rescuetime)

Often, multitasking is promoted as a good thing, but this is far from the truth. Multitasking is not an efficient way to accomplish more things. At the end of the day, it will only cause more stress. Less workplace multitasking and a work life balance plan will make every employee more productive and efficient, as well as happier and less stressed.

17. Work life and lack of balance in 2020 show that 10% of employees reported that they are spending less than an hour or no quality time at all with their families on workdays.

(Source: Quickbooks)

Many workers struggle with finding a balance between their work and spending time with their families. Work life balance statistics reveal 38% of employees spend three to five hours of quality time with their loved ones. Worryingly, just over 10% spend less than an hour of quality time or none at all.

So, in terms of how work-life balance affects employees, the lost time with kids and spouses negatively affected employees’ mental health, wellbeing, and sleep patterns.

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Healthy Work Life Balance Statistics

Companies nowadays are putting the effort to provide healthy workplace environments for their employees. Let’s take a look at the numbers, though.

18. Many business leaders are redefining the work-life balance because the Millennial generation will make up to 75% of the workspace by 2025.

(Source: Forbes)

Many employers understand the importance of work life balance for Millennials. That’s why they are making a tremendous effort to attract Millennial workers. The Millennials’ distinctive attitudes and beliefs will reshape the image of corporations and end the confrontational world that Gen-Xers and Boomers have created.

What’s more:

Employers are taking note of this fact and focusing on creating programs that will maintain the much-needed work-life balance.

19. Only 11% of Canadians use workplace wellness programs.

(Source: Medicine)

Workplace wellness statistics for Canada show participation in wellness programs is extremely low, even though many Canadian companies are offering them.

In fact, only 11% of Canadians regularly participate in these programs, and 23% do so occasionally. In comparison, the participation rates in the United States are much higher, probably due to financial incentives such as discounts on health coverage premiums.

20. 79% of graduates believe having fun at work is important.

(Source: ONEEC)

According to the fun in the workplace statistics, employees who have fun at work are more productive, work harder, and take fewer sick days. Employee happiness is one of the main reasons why companies are more successful and able to earn more.

And that’s not all:

The statistics also show us that companies with happy employees exceed their competition by an impressive 20%.

21. Employers that provide better work-life balance have a 25% lower employee turnover.

(Source: Compare Camp)

Creating an office environment with a work-life balance has many positive effects. It keeps employees content and encourages them to be more productive and efficient. Work life balance statistics benefits prove that 85% of businesses that adopt this method are more productive.

22. 79% of employees in Canadian workplaces that have flexible work schedules reported that they were very satisfied with their work life balance.

(Source: StatCanada)

In order to attract and retain the best candidates, many companies are offering a variety of options to provide a better work-life balance. Offering a flexible schedule and enabling the employee to start and end their day however they choose is associated with greater satisfaction.

But the question that many employers are asking is:

Do flexible work hours improve employee productivity?

According to the work-life balance effects on productivity statistics, companies that promote this method are two times more successful than those that don’t include work-life balance for their employees.

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Conclusion

When it comes to work life balance statistics, we can say that people seek balance, spending some quality family time. However, the truth is that women are more exposed to the imbalance because they have more obligations around the home.

Even though nowadays Canadian employers offer flexible working hours, there is still a percentage of people who are staying late at work. Hopefully, in the near future, there will be a better balance between work and life.