So, even in the West, the intensity of work rivals that of countries such as India or China and, despite the fact that Western countries have been early adopters of work-life balance initiatives, systemic changes have been tardy, say experts.
In fact, work is intensifying, they observe. “Work is now being extracted through technology, and flexible working arrangements are often associated with more work because one is simultaneously handling chores and office assignments,” says John. He adds, “By removing the distinction between work and life, the theory of work-life balance is challenged.” Thus, most times, work-life programmes are going to be actually symbolic because the idea is to see that these imbalances are accommodated and not really removed, adds John.
The consensus is that an overemphasis on economics has led to an overall decline in the well-being of human capital. Experts say what is compounding these problems is the current limited thinking on the issue. In fact, most often, successful employees are workaholics or ambitious to the extent that they don’t hesitate to sacrifice their personal lives, say psychologists. “It is distressing to see an increasing number of professionals in the age group of 35-40 experiencing burnout,” says Bhavna Barmi, senior clinical psychologist and a consultant at Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre in New Delhi. “The number of professionals coming to us with problems resulting from work-related stress has gone up by more than 50% in the last 10 years.”
Emphasizing the need for work-life coaching, Barmi says: “There is a pressing need for training and workshops on work-life balance, lifestyle and stress management, given the frightening pace of increase in lifestyle diseases, stress and relationship problems (that) employees are suffering .”
Earlier, children would take elderly parents, suffering from diseases such as hypertension and diabetes, to the doctor. Now, it is the other way round as lifestyle diseases strike young professionals in their most productive years.