10 Jobs with the Best Work-Life Balance
Be honest: how many of your “sick days” last year were actually just vacation?
Taking time off from work is healthy. For Americans, finding the right work-life balance remains elusive. For example, one in three workers claim that having a work-life balance has become less attainable. Vacation days taken are on the decline, and less time off is requested and approved. Busy is the new black, and the more busy you are, the more successful you appear to be.
If devoting your life to work isn’t your top priority, there are many jobs that still give you a chance to recharge between all your professional demands. Glassdoor did a little digging into their data. They looked at job titles with “at least 75 work-life balance ratings shared by U.S.-based employees in the past year from a minimum of 75 companies, with an employer-review ratio of at least 50%.” From this data, they looked at jobs that included the term “work-life balance” as a positive benefit in at least 20% of their reviews.
Here are the ten jobs that surfaced as the best options for any employee seeking the best work-life balance.10. Research Engineer
Work/life balance rating: 3.9
Median salary: $103,209
A research engineer can work in a variety of industries, many of them technical: petroleum, aerospace, or mechanics, for example. Their task is to gather information, samples, and data and test different variables for use in methodologies, products, or materials. They work in a lab, conduct R&D, and provide results for companies and projects. Because some of those experiments can take a while, there’s plenty of work-life balance to be had.
9. DevOps Engineer
Work/life balance rating: 4.0
Median salary: $110,000
You probably already guessed this list would have a bunch of computer science-y type jobs on here. This is the first! A DevOps engineer is usually either a developer who likes to do deployment and network operations, or system administrators who can script and code but also move into the development side. These people are jack-of-all-trade professionals who can code, collaborate, and re-engineer processes. DevOps engineers ranked number 3 for the best jobs in America for 2017, determined by salary, opportunities for growth, and job postings.
8. Mobile Developer
Work/life balance rating: 4.0
Median salary: $101,398
Some claim that a mobile developer is the highest paying job you can get without a college degree. Mobile developers create mobile apps, write code, and test and fix bugs in mobile apps. This is one of the fastest-growing jobs, with a projected 10-year growth rate of 19%. So, if you’re looking for both job security and a great work-life balance, look no further.
7. Technical Account Manager
Work/life balance rating: 4.0
Median salary: $75,000
Perhaps one of the reasons this job comes with a great work-life balance is that it involves a flexible schedule. A technical account manager interfaces between project teams and customers, coordinating among different clients and technical support. Lots of technical account managers work from home, and while there may be some late nights and weekend hours, their schedule is often customizable.
6. Recruiting Coordinator
Work/life balance rating: 4.0
Median salary: $48,000
Recruiting coordinators spend their days interviewing and hiring candidates for open positions. You’ve never heard of a recruiting emergency, have you? This role comes with an amazing work-life balance (especially if you’re an extrovert): often, work just feels like chatting with interesting people and handing out money in the form of signing bonuses. The one downside? That median salary can start to hurt when you’re seeing what your new hirees may be making.
5. UI Designer
Work/life balance rating: 4.0
Median salary: $84,500
UI stands for “user interface.” UI describes how a person interacts with a product, as opposed to UX (user experience), which is how the overall interaction feels. A UI designer is focused on the visual aspects of an app, game, or website. It involves a mix of creativity, psychology, and computer coding knowledge.
4. Strategy manager
Work/life balance rating: 4.0
Median salary: $110,487
An alternate job title for this role might be “big thinker.” Strategy managers give companies advice on how to grow with minimal risk. They spend their day thinking about an organization’s goals, how to achieve those goals, and what obstacles might stand in the company’s way. Usually, these are high-level professionals that work directly under the C-suite, where work-life balance is a natural job perk.
3. Data Scientist
Work/life balance rating: 4.0
Median salary: $112,000
Data scientists mine through data for insights that can be used in all manner of ways. (Cambridge Analytica, anyone?) In addition to being a high-paying job with a great work-life balance, IBM predicts that data scientists are going to be in high demand. Specifically? They believe demand for data scientist will reach 28% by 2020. Stay in school, kids.
2. UX Designer
Work/life balance rating: 4.1
Median salary: $98,000
If you liked the sound of being a UI designer, prepare to be even more excited by the UX designer description, which comes with a better work-life balance score and higher median income. Reminder: UX is the user experience, i.e., what it’s like to interact with a product (usually a game or app). UX designers try to determine exactly what that experience should be. Does someone swipe left? Or tap to like? If that question excites you, maybe you should consider UX design.
1. Corporate Recruiter
Work/life balance rating: 4.1
Median salary: $65,000
Winning the work-life balance contest: corporate recruiters. Also known as headhunters, these employees go off into the world each day to seek the very best candidates for a company’s open positions. Because success as a headhunter depends on quality, not quantity, corporate recruiters are never under intense time constraints or forced to work odd hours. Plus, you spend your day talking to interesting people and wining and dining top candidates. The perks are great.
Wondering what the worst job is for work/life balance? Well, by one ranking: truck driver. Experts point to the fact that driving a truck can be demanding, lonely, sedentary, and lead to poor diet and health problems. Truck drivers have to spend weeks away from their family and friends, often with limited time off.
Want more ideas? Here are additional gigs with an excellent work-life balance.
