Mexican companies, the most reluctant to work-life balance programs

While in most Latin American economies the main additional benefit that companies offer their employees has to do with measures to improve the reconciliation between work and personal lifeIn Mexico, the benefit that stands out the most is the casual dress code.

According to a SherlockHR report, in our country companies have greater resistance to providing support to their employees to balance work and personal life, above what is observed in nations such as Chile, Colombia and Argentina.

“Mexico is the only country in Latin America reluctant to offer alternatives that allow a better balance in the personal and professional lives of workers, such as the possibility of work remotely with the help of technology with more flexible schedules”, is one of the conclusions of the investigation Recruiting fever?

In this sense, the report points out that the pandemic made people more aware of the new ways of working as a protective measure. Three years after the arrival of Covid-19, employees expect companies to maintain some practices adopted during the Covid-19 health emergency.

“Today, we have to see the candidate as a consumer, we must know their tastes, what social platforms they use, where they are going, so that companies establish new communication channels and achieve a real connection between candidate and organization. In the same way, to evaluate which new work models such as the home officeflexible policies in terms of schedules and clothing or those benefits that provide well-being and balance in the lives of employees, we can implement to ensure that the best talent is on the side of the companies”, says Ivonne López, Brand & Candidate Experience of SherlockHR.

However, with an average of 62% of the companies, Mexico is the country that has maintained the most modality of face-to-face work in the region among the companies that could operate with home office or a hybrid scheme, depending on the research findings.

In line with this, Mexico is the economy with which worse work-life balance within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In our country, the average (10%) of workers who work more than 50 hours per week in a paid activity doubles, this means that they have less free time to dedicate to other activities such as personal care or family life.

“An important aspect of work-life balance is the number of hours a person works. The evidence suggests that a long work hours it can be detrimental to personal health, jeopardize safety and increase stress. The quantity and quality of free time are essential for the general well-being of people and can generate additional benefits for physical and mental health.

However, and according to the Wellness Report 2022 of Betterfly, a little more than 50% of the employees andIn the region, they perceive a lack of interest in their well-being on the part of their employer.

“If you want your company to stay in the market, grow and achieve its objectives, it is necessary that you dedicate time and effort to retention and loyalty. The success of both depends on having a wellness strategy that is aligned with what your collaborators expect you to help them solve so that they can perform better”, warns the platform.

Young people, the most exhausted workers

According to the Betterfly report, younger employees are more likely to feel burnout at work. To put it in perspective, 51% of Gen Xers say they feel exhausted, but among Gen Zs that proportion rises to 61%.

“Los centennials they are getting the worst of it. 60.5% assured that they feel exhausted and that it is making it difficult for them to balance your personal and work life. This feeling worsened after the pandemic, which shows that the hybrid format is not proving to be an alternative to guarantee well-being either, ”says the report.

On the other hand, work overloads are a recurring problem among the entire workforce, practically in all generations more than 40% of employees perceive a workload that exceeds their capacities. However, in proportion, the millennials (53%) are those who consider that they are more overworked.

“All these negative emotions are part of a working environment which is becoming more and more complex to attend to and where leaders must pay more attention to avoid a collapse. If they don’t, they have to bear the consequence of a mass resignation”, stands out in the report.

In this sense, the platform recommends to companies humanize recruitment processes, make work spaces more comfortable, make working hours more flexible, optimize internal communication and establish an open door policy; implement training programs and align the offer of benefits to the concerns and needs of talent.