Do you want a good work-life balance? These are the best tech companies you can work for right now
After an intense period of fully remote work that showed large segments of the workforce that it is possible to get work done while managing personal life, American workers are valuing themselves more than ever before.
New research from automaker Ford has found that 51% of U.S. workers would actually be willing to take a 20% pay cut in exchange for a better quality of life. Younger workers are even more willing to go along with it: 60% of millennials and 56% of Generation Z say they would accept less money for a better work-life balance.
But workers are in a dilemma. Americans want a better balance between their jobs and the rest of their lives, but according to additional research, 54 percent of adults surveyed admitted to working while on vacation, and half said they also felt guilty about taking paid vacation.
Currently, the United States ranks 28th in the world when it comes to work-life balance, according to the OECD’s Better Life Index. So some compromises have to be made to give U.S. workers the best of both worlds: a fulfilling career that allows them time for family, leisure, and relaxation.
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That’s not an impossible dream, according to a new study from Fullstack Academy that examined Glassdoor reviews for over 100 of the most prominent technology companies in the United States.
The study, Study: Work-life balance at large tech companiesmeasured this by focusing on keywords that indicate either good or poor work-life balance. It rated companies’ work-life balance and divided the rankings into five groups based on the frequency of work-life balance keywords in Glassdoor’s “Cons” section compared to the total number of reviews for each company.
The top keywords related to work-life balance in positive Glassdoor reviews included: flexibility, remote, work from home, WFH, paid vacation, time off, flexible hours, and flexible schedule. The most frequently mentioned keywords in the benefits section are “flexibility,” “remote,” and “work from home.”
However, not everything is positive. The report finds significant differences among the leading US technology companies. According to the analysis, while some companies are truly excellent at promoting a healthy work-life balance, others still need to improve.
Overall, only 40% of large tech companies have good or very good work-life balance. Fullstack Academy found this by searching for keywords like “burnout.” This term appeared 73% more often in the “cons” section of Glassdoor reviews than wellness keywords like “well-being” in the “pros” section.
So which of the major technology companies meet the requirements?
According to the study, NetApp, Cisco and Spotify have the best work-life balance, while Oracle and Adobe score “very good” in terms of work-life balance. Microsoft and IBM score “good”, Salesforce and Google score “average”.
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Adobe, Oracle and Microsoft rank well for mentions of “PTO,” “flexible work hours,” and “hybrid” in Glassdoor’s Professional Reviews section.
Adobe, Cisco, and Oracle are also among the most profitable Fortune 500 technology companies with very good work-life balance ratings. Glassdoor reviewers often mention “remote,” “health,” and “family” in the benefits section for these companies.
Many companies fear that increasing flexibility could lead to lower productivity. But the study shows that this is not a problem because Microsoft, the most profitable Fortune 500 company, has a good work-life balance. In a competitive job market where specialization and skills are highly valued, these companies actually improve their chances of attracting the best talent by maintaining a positive work-life balance.
If you’re among the 51% of U.S. workers in the Ford study who crave better balance, the answer may lie in a move to a major technology company that puts employee well-being at the forefront.
