December 31, 2008

Prediction: The 7 biggest work/life balance stories for 2009

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Happy 2009, folks. Hope your New Year's Eve was a joyous one. 

To wind down the year, my last post gave my picks for the top work/life balance stories of 2008. Today, I'm giving my predictions for the biggest work/life balance stories we'll see in the year ahead:

1. The continued rise of flex work. Realizing that you can't do the same amount of work with less people power, companies with common sense will choose flexible work arrangements over layoffs. Instituting telecommuting, shorter workweeks, and job sharing as cost-cutting measures not only keeps your people employed, it keeps their morale up during difficult financial times. Layoffs, of course, have the opposite effect.

2. The "working" retirement. Lewis Lin, a Seattle-based interviewing coach, wrote in with this one, and I couldn't agree more. Increased life expectancy and cost of living have already contributed greatly to more and more people working well into their golden years. Fifty- and sixty-somethings who saw their retirement funds shrink by 40 percent or more in recent months will have to think twice about walking away from work any time soon. Many simply won't be able to afford it.

3. The accidental small business owner. Those with means who've been laid off from a floundering industry (banking comes to mind) might find it easier to start a low-overhead business than find a job with a salary comparable to the one they lost. In October, business strategist Rhonda Abrams argued in USA Today that a recession is actually a fine time to start a low-overhead business. For one thing, the competition is likely weakened. For another, customers are hungry for cheap alternatives. (Entire article here.)

4. The reluctant freelancer. Take it from a long-time freelancer, if you have a service to sell, it's easier during a recession to find organizations to hire you for project-based freelance and contract work than it is to find organizations to hire you for a full-time position. Why? Because it's far less expensive for companies to farm out the work sporadically than to open a salaried position. Any time the country slips into a recession, you'll find leagues laid-off writers, designers, programmers, admins, and project managers turning to freelance work to make ends meet.

5. The marriage of convenience. In a 2007 poll conducted by leading health policy research group Kaiser Family Foundation, 7 percent of Americans admittedly to marrying so they or their partner could get on the other's health insurance plan. Given the high unemployment figures right now, I'd be shocked if more couples didn't step up their nuptial plans for financial reasons.

6. The putting off of parenthood. Those pint-sized bundles of joy cost a small fortune. As the Chicago Tribune reports, the annual cost of raising a child in a middle-income, married-couple, two-child family was about $11,000 or $12,000 a year in 2007, depending on geographic location. Then there's the whole matter of the college fund. If ever there was a year not to incur those added expenses, it's this one. 

7. The never-ending fascination with the Obamas' family life. This young, history-making political family appears to have it all: beauty, brains, power, heart, education, ambition, compassion, connections, the world's rapt attention, and the world's seemingly infinite problems resting squarely on their shoulders. How can we resist gawking and seeing what we can learn from them? 

That's my list. How about yours? What do you think will make the biggest work/life balance headlines in 2009?

Michelle Goodman is the author of "My So-Called Freelance Life" and "The Anti 9-to-5 Guide." E-mail Michelle at mgoodman@nwjobs.com

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7 Comments

Vicki Neiman on January 2, 2009 8:51 AM | Reply

Great insight! I especially agree with starting your own business. My husband & I own a full service family martial arts school--self defense, wellness, qigong, nutrition and earth friendly products.
It was great part time income until he was forced to quit his job. Now it is our full time passion!

Eileen McDargh on January 2, 2009 11:08 AM | Reply

Work/life balance stories I predict: how downsized organizations take a critical look at work load-- now more than ever, companies cannot afford to have employees working at tasks that don't add value. Trust me, there are plenty of redundant, ego-ordered assignments that can vanish. These are issues I've been tracking since I authored my first book on work/life integration in 1985! Thanks.

Felicity at Cubes on January 2, 2009 2:47 PM | Reply

Great predictions! I also think you will see corporations reducing the spaces they lease. In the vain of the flexible work options, they will provide this intangible benefit at little to no cost to the corporation. You will see more workers utilizing the growing amount of co-working spaces across the nation.

Penny on January 4, 2009 6:52 AM | Reply

I agree with most of the comments. I see lots of non-value added tasks and even employees with secure placement at my job. It's such a waste. I hope to see some changes in '09.

Judi Casey, Sloan Work and Family Research Network on January 5, 2009 7:41 AM | Reply

Good ideas! Here's my ten top trends on the Work and Family Blog at: http://wfnetwork.bc.edu/blog/top-ten-trends-in-work-life-and-work-family

There's a lot we agree on.

Marci Brand on January 5, 2009 11:39 AM | Reply

Great ideas! In 1990, I started my own business at a time when the real estate market was slumping and I was pretty sure I was going to lose my job as a VP for a real estate management company. Now, 19 years later, I have a successful company which specializes in 'outsourcing' marketing services.

Teresa on January 10, 2009 12:34 PM | Reply

I agree - great ideas! It's too bad that there are still employers out there not willing to consider flexible work schedules. It just doesn't make sense... and it's probably more the government (county/city municipalities) as opposed to private companies.

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