Ahhhh. There’s no place like home amirite? That beautiful sanctuary created with you and your loved ones in mind. Where the fridge has your favorite snacks. Where the plants grow so majestically. Where the wifi connects automatically. Oh yeah—that’s the good stuff.
After a long day of goal setting, negotiating, serving, rubbing elbows, and striving to meet key performance indicators, home is waiting with open arms. All hail that beloved respite beckoning you to leave the work baggage at the door as you carefully step into the peaceful realm known as your ~personal life~
There’s just one teensy weensy little problem though: It’s all lies!
That’s right. Anyone with a pulse and even a smidgen of capacity for honest reflection can concur. For the average working-class American, there is no such thing as work-life balance. Not while there’s product to be moved, quotas to be met, customers to be satisfied, and pockets to be filled. If we’ve learned one thing from major businesses turning record profits during the height of a global pandemic, we should know that when it comes to work, the sky is the limit honey.
Work encroaches steadily on daily life. So much so that the boundary separating the workplace from the private family home is beginning to seem like a mere suggestion.
Here are several reasons why I think the vast majority of us may never truly experience work-life balance.
1. Wearing Multiple Hats
Calling all motivated self-starters, marketing gurus, data evangelists, customer service rockstars, and productivity ninjas! Do you thrive in a fast-paced, results-driven and highly stressful environment? Do you love work for the sake of work itself? Do you have a keen entrepreneurial spirit with an uncanny ability to switch between independent and collaborative work?
Good news! Every company in America is looking for you!
Let’s break this down a bit. In this job market, it still pays to gain hard skills, find a niche, and specialize, but it’s even better to be adaptable. To stay ahead of the competition, you’ll need to learn the not-so-subtle art of ~versatility~ also known as “being all things to all people all at once.”
It’s the new age. Gone are the days of the vintage bait ‘n’ switch. To keep candidates on their toes, modern companies have no qualms about packing in as many job responsibilities into one role as they possibly can. Even going so far as to list compound job titles separated by complicated dashes and hyphens. When pressed for clarification on the key responsibilities, some hiring managers will tell you straight: “It’s basically whatever the team needs. No two days are the same.”
Welp! As the saying goes, “Never let ‘em know your next move.”
2. The Moral High Ground
The workplace now dictates your politics and morality. Coworkers casually discuss their favorite political candidates and openly mock any followers of the opposition. There is a clear separation between our kind and their kind.
Put it like this: Have you ever seen a cause so worthy you had no choice but to spread the message to others? Ever become so fervently entrenched in your own beliefs that you couldn’t bear the sight of anyone who opposed them? Have you ever put so much time, energy, and effort into doing a good deed, only to have your plans foiled or to end up making an even bigger mess than you started with?
I suppose we have the millennials to thank for boycotting and social media shaming and kicking up a stink. You know, holding corporations accountable for their decision-making, and for finally bringing corruption to heel for poor business practices. Maybe that’s why almost every major American company feels the need to “speak out” and take a stance in whatever the major hot button issue of the day may be.
Come work for us and spend your money with us. After all, we’re the good guys!
I mean do you even care about diversity and inclusion if you don’t send out a perfunctory “love is love” message or adorn your social media pages with rainbows every summer?
It’s not enough to simply feel compassion for other humans in your heart. To demonstrate your commitment to your peers and the larger community, you better start wearing your opinions on your chest. If you don’t announce your beliefs to everyone you work with, how will they know that you’re a safe person and worthy of being a part of the team?
Which leads me on to my next point…
3. We Are a Family!
“Down here at the ABC company, we make sure to treat our employees like a family,” the hiring manager assures you. “And by the way, what’s your relationship with your family like?” she wants to know.
Before you even go there: No, this is not a stupid question. A bit invasive and cringeworthy, but certainly not stupid. Its benefits are twofold. Not only is it a subtle way to probe you for clues about your relationship to teamwork and authority, but it also tests your projected level of deference within the context of a corporate hierarchy.
After spending the majority of your waking hours at work, commuting to work, completing chores to prepare for work, and relaxing to recover from work, I think it’s safe to say that the workplace has become like a second (or surrogate) family. Therefore, it’s very important to identify a candidate whose personality is a good “culture fit” for the organization. One who is prepared for the possibility eventuality of simply doing what they’re told.
So long as you’re securely attached and believe that your best interests will be taken to heart, you should have absolutely nothing to worry about. Now if, perchance, you’re one of those unfortunate souls for whom the concept of family touches on some of your deepest, most persistent trauma…then good luck with that, lol.
4. Your Healthcare Decisions Are Not Your Own
Like any good parents would, your work superiors make it a top priority to tend to your health and safety. Just in case you’re allergic to independent research, critical thinking, and making your own adult decisions. Allow the well-meaning executives to lay out a clear course of action for you (and everyone else) to follow. Out of an abundance of caution, of course!
Some professions have long been cognizant of the need for greater awareness of community health. Ask any surgeon trained to mask up, suit up, and scrub up. Or ask a school administrative assistant charged with drafting an annual letter to parents announcing yet another outbreak of whooping cough or lice or whatever.
But outside of the occasional voluntary health fair, what does the average American office worker know of such medical scrutiny? Well, after the past couple of years, a whole heck of a lot, as it turns out.
5. The High Cost of Living
Wage stagnation during record inflation underscores a persistent power imbalance that very few of us are willing to accept. I almost do this one a disservice to mention it last on the list of reasons why work-life balance is dead. Persistently pitiful salaries may be the single greatest factor contributing to employee dissatisfaction.
As any renter in any major city can readily tell you, the cost of living has become unbearable. In addition to price increases on groceries, fuel, used cars, and utilities, real estate moguls are buying up properties and driving up the rent.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that new services or amenities will be offered for free either. Some corporate property owners are raising the rent simply because they can. And in this scenario, if a group of your fellow real estate buddies jump off a cliff together will you do it too? The answer seems to be a resounding “hell yeah brother!”
As it pertains to the workplace, wage stagnation leads to resignations for those who are able to secure more lucrative pay outs. Low employee retention leads to skeleton crews running on empty to keep up with the same labor demands. Pressure on those who are left behind leads to burnout and lack of engagement. Quiet quitting leads to low productivity and even lower morale.
The idea of a balanced and fulfilling life is what many of us non-robots have been so desperately dreaming of. A lucky few have managed to achieve some semblance of work-life balance for themselves already. However, lived experience of the majority is calling BS on the entire notion of work-life balance.
Now before some well-meaning stoic urges me not to complain, I get it. I get it: We are fortunate to live in a developed society with fresh running water, 5G wifi, and dessert for breakfast. I’m not suggesting otherwise.
So for now it looks like work-life balance may be a tall-order, or an idealistic fantasy. We may never fully approach the limit. But, be that as it may, we must never ever stop striving for it!
The Color Cubicle 