Over 65% of Hong Kongers struggle with work-life balance

This is thanks to unnecessary and excessive overtime, Randstad reported.

A total of 66% of Hong Kongers have  poor work-life balance, largely due to unnecessary and excessive overtime, Randstad Hong Kong reported. 

In its Reimagine Work White Paper 2022, Randstad also found that 60% struggle with finding a balance because of overwhelming workload. This is followed by unreasonable boss/unsupportive colleagues (52%). 

“Work-life balance has always been a very complex and challenging topic for HR practitioners to tackle. Flexible work is a good start to meeting talent expectations on work-life balance, but it’s not the be-all and end-all solution, nor can it serve as a magic bullet for existing organisational problems,” Benjamin Elms, Managing Director at Randstad Hong Kong, said.

“With our new white paper, we want to help business leaders and HR professionals focus their resources on talent management initiatives that would truly benefit their company.”

Read more: Work-life balance beats salary as top employee demand

Moreover, the report found that Hong Kongers perceive that flexible working is not the key to achieving a work-life balance. A total of 28% of the respondents have also expressed that remote or hybrid setup makes it difficult to communicate effectively, makes them feel lonely and isolated, as well as makes them fear that they’’ miss out on work. 

“For Hong Kongers, it’s important that they also get to have fun after work. Having a manageable workload, being able to work flexibly with the colleagues they enjoy working with, and having enough time to spend with their family and friends - that is the work-life equilibrium that employees desire to have,” Elms said. 

Nearly 30% of the respondents said that work-life balance means having enough personal time.