A University of London study focusing on Irish high‐tech companies has found that the development of flexible work arrangements may significantly contribute to innovation and creativity in the IT sector. Nearly a quarter of all employees were women whose family responsibilities conflicted with the difficult demands of the IT sector being global such as working across time‐zones, weekends and keeping abreast of rapid technological change. This caused women in particular to miss out on children’s activities, leisure time and hobbies, to have interrupted sleeping patterns, to suffer the effects of stress and exhaustion on personal relationships, to work when feeling unwell and experience reduced quality of life. The biggest impact on women’s work–life balance were long commute times, so it is not surprising that the study found that reducing working weeks and allowing working from home provided a positive effect on innovation and creativity, and reduced stress and conflict between colleagues.

Although work–life balance has been shown to reduce stress and conflict and promote innovation and creativity, Australia is only ranked 29 of 35 leading countries, according to the OECD Better Life Index and people work significantly longer hours (1693 hours per year) than the OECD average (1176 hours per year). Nevertheless, Australians still feel that they have a good quality of life and are ‘more satisfied with their lives than the OECD average, with 84 per cent of people saying they have more positive experiences in an average day (feelings of rest, pride in accomplishment, enjoyment, etc) than negative ones (pain, worry, sadness, boredom, etc.). This figure is higher than the OECD average of 80 per cent’.

QUESTION

Would more flexible working arrangements (as discussed in the Irish study) benefit Australian organisations? Why do Australians feel more satisfied with their lives than the OECD average even though they work longer hours than many other countries?

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