Just under half (49%) of respondents feel that their employers should support them more in achieving a healthy work-life balance, according to research by Thomsons Online Benefits.
Its survey of 2,000 UK employees also found that 31% are kept awake at night because of workplace stress, while 26% stated that long working hours prevent them from improving their mental wellbeing.
A third (36%) of staff surveyed felt unable to better their physical fitness because of long hours at work, while 12% noted that they struggle to find time to improve their financial health.
In addition, 25% of respondents have struggled to sleep at night because they feel overwhelmed with everyday life; this affects 31% of women versus 18% of the men polled.
Jack Curzon (pictured), consulting director at Thomsons Online Benefits, said: “Over the past decade or so, the relationship between employer and employee has become less transactional and more complex. Pay is still important of course, but people also want to work for an employer that understands and supports their lifestyle and provides an enriching employee experience.
“We’ve seen significant growth in holistic wellbeing benefits, with employers shouldering growing responsibility for their people’s physical, financial and mental health. However, alongside offering these benefits, employers need to enable and empower their people to take advantage of them. This depends on building [an organisational] culture that supports employees to make lifestyle choices and taking advantage of digital technologies to help employees live and work in a way that’s best for them.”
