Over half of Belgians (53%) are satisfied with their work-life balance, making the country the European leader, shows a survey conducted by the SD Worx social secretariat among more than 16,000 employees in 16 countries.
When it comes to the combination of work and private life, no European country does better than Belgium: more than half of the employees (53%) are satisfied with the balance they found. At the same time, about one in five (19%) Belgians believe that the work-life balance could be improved.
"The search for a good balance between work and private life is extremely difficult and probably never finished," said SD Worx, adding that improvements can always be made.
"The legislator introduced the right to disconnect, but it is up to employers to further develop and facilitate this through good agreements about expectations and more flexible working hours, for example," the company said.
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Belgium's first place is shared with Finland, followed by Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands rounding out the top 5.
In terms of pure job satisfaction, one in ten Belgian employees explicitly stated they are "not very satisfied" with their job, but two in three (66%) are "satisfied" with their work.
Only Norwegians score higher with 72%. Italians and Croats are at the bottom of the list, with "only" slightly more than half of employees saying they are satisfied with their job.
