More than two years after more people started working from home, flexibility remains a highly sought-after benefit among the workforce.
A whopping 94% of people desire a flexible work schedule, according to new research from Future Forum, Slack’s research consortium, which surveyed more than 10,000 workers across the globe. Flexibility is ranked second only to compensation when it comes to what determines workplace satisfaction.
It’s no coincidence, then, that all of the highest-rated companies for work-life balance, according to new research from Glassdoor, are places that have embraced flexible work — whether it’s through flextime, remote arrangements, unlimited PTO, or other perks.
Glassdoor’s analysts read millions of reviews from current and former U.S.-based full-time workers at companies with 1,000 employees or more, between January and September 2022 to determine the ranking.
Here are the top 10 highest-rated companies for work-life balance, according to Glassdoor — and all have open roles right now:
1. Dropbox
Industry: Technology
Glassdoor rating: 4.83 out of 5
Headquarters: San Francisco
2. SailPoint Technologies (tie)
Industry: Technology
Glassdoor rating: 4.77 out of 5
Headquarters: Austin, Texas
2. MathWorks (tie)
Industry: Technology
Glassdoor rating: 4.77 out of 5
Headquarters: Natick, Massachusetts
4. Asana
Industry: Technology
Glassdoor rating: 4.76 out of 5
Headquarters: San Francisco
5. Box
Industry: Technology
Glassdoor rating: 4.75 out of 5
Headquarters: Redwood City, California
6. Zeigler Auto Group
Industry: Motor Vehicle Manufacturing
Glassdoor rating: 4.74 out of 5
Headquarters: Kalamazoo, Michigan
7. Atlassian
Industry: Technology
Glassdoor rating: 4.72 out of 5
Headquarters: Sydney, Australia
8. CoverMyMeds
Industry: Health-care software
Glassdoor rating: 4.65 out of 5
Headquarters: Columbus, Ohio
9. Cornerstone Home Lending
Industry: Loan servicing
Glassdoor rating: 4.64 out of 5
Headquarters: Houston, Texas
10. eXp Realty
Industry: Real estate
Glassdoor rating: 4.63 out of 5
Headquarters: Bellingham, Washington
Tech companies dominate the list despite months of relentless headlines about hiring freezes and mass layoffs, as many employers in this sector have continued to offer flexible work-from-home policies while other companies call people back to the office, Daniel Zhao, senior economist and data scientist at Glassdoor, tells CNBC Make It.
Zhao adds that many of the highest-rated companies have prioritized employee well-being during the pandemic by offering policies like unlimited paid time off and flexible schedules at a time when job burnout is on the rise.
“The pandemic has forced companies and employees to come to grips with what’s important to them in the workplace, and for many employees, that’s been a flexible workplace,” Zhao says. “Flexibility can come in many different forms, but it’s clear that it’s something employees value deeply and aren’t willing to give up anytime soon.”
The industries that ranked lower for work-life balance — transportation and logistics, retail, and restaurants — are the ones that were hit hardest during the early pandemic recession and offer fewer remote work opportunities. Zhao points out that companies in these industries have struggled with improving their employees’ work-life balance as working from home is “simply not feasible” for most roles and jobs in these fields are often subject to irregular scheduling.
While flexibility can be a powerful antidote to employee burnout, Zhao stresses that it’s still important to establish clear expectations around work and time off.
“Flexibility shouldn’t erase the boundaries between work and home life,” he explains. “Whether that means signing off completely during vacations or setting firm start and end times to the workday, companies need to make more of an effort to improve the situation we’re in now, instead of hoping that we’ll return to how things were three years ago.”