TAFEP Hero 2026 May
human resources online

Your work emails are ruining family dinners

Here's more evidence that maintaining a work-life balance today is fast becoming a myth.

According to a recent survey by Workfront, 56% of workers in the United States feel that technology has ruined the family dinner because employers and clients demand a response at any hour.

In fact, 40% of employees think it is okay to answer an urgent work email while sharing a family meal.

To make things worse, 38% of employees have missed important life events, such as weddings, birthdays, anniversaries because they were required to do work-related tasks.

Interestingly enough, men (45%) were found to be far more likely than women (28%) to have missed a life event due to their careers.

"More times than not, there are no parameters set by employers on what they require from employees after hours," said Joe Staples, CMO of Workfront.

"So the default can be an 'always-on' lifestyle. The challenge this presents is a potential for burnout."

ALSO READ:HR and employees disagree on work-life balance57% of Singaporeans want work-life balance over higher pay

Indeed, burnout (41%) was among the top two negative consequences of a poor work-life balance on an employee's work atmosphere, beaten only by poor morale (68%).
The report added the presence of bad bosses was a strong contributor of poor work-life balance.

Six out of 10 employees stated that bad bosses can have the most negative impact on an employee's work-life balance.

Coming in a distant - but still strong - second place were problems like regular overtime and inflexible work schedules (both at 39%).

Women (75%) were found to be more likely than men (64%) to feel employers should offer flexible work schedules to help improve employees' work-life balance

Image: Shutterstock

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