While work-life balance and working from home remain a high priority, many Aussie workers have admitted they are prepared to make sacrifices if it means getting a higher salary. New research found workers are finding themselves increasingly caught between work-life balance and financial pressures.
Ryan Myo recently left his flexible engineering job in Port Macquarie for a Sydney-based role with a 30 per cent higher pay packet. The 27-year-old told Yahoo Finance his previous job offered flexible start times and nine-day fortnights, while his new gig is more rigid but gives him the opportunity to work on bigger long-term projects and be involved in more analysis and planning.
“[The trade-off is worth it] in terms of my goals and my personal perspective. First of all, it makes it so much easier for my career progression if I want to go further,” he said.
“Money is part of it as well. Everyone’s trying to get a house and that’s my ultimate goal I want to achieve, so in terms of that, getting the pay rise definitely helps.
“Just to get that faster, as fast as I can, I think this is the right step for me. Although I do miss the quieter and laid-back lifestyle and more flexibility.”
Myo said he was still able to work from home two days per week, which is the same as his previous job, but now has set days.
Myo previously lived in Sydney and said he had noticed the cost of living had increased in the few short years he had been away.
He is currently renting an apartment in Parramatta near his new workplace and said it was far more expensive than his previous place in Port Macquarie.
“Rent is definitely killer and transportation … Food is very expensive,” he said.
“That’s part of the reason why when I decided to get this job, which is a 30 per cent higher salary, hopefully it can buffer all these living costs.”
Workers weigh up cost of work-life balance
SEEK’s new Money Matters report found 65 per cent of Aussies would opt for a good work-life balance over a higher salary if they had to choose.
However, the survey also found that the right amount of money could change their mind.
Only 36 per cent of the more than 4,000 Aussies surveyed said they felt financially secure. Nearly all Aussies said they were concerned about the cost of living, with 33 per cent of Gen Z saying buying a home was their biggest concern.
To live “comfortably”, four in 10 Aussies said they believed they now needed to earn more than $100,000.
SEEK career coach Leah Lambart said workers were finding themselves in a complex balancing act.
“We’re seeing workers caught between two competing forces – the desire for genuine work-life balance, and the financial pressures that are intensifying in the current economic climate,” she said.
“We can expect Australian workers to be increasingly considering the whole package of their work experience, not just simply their pay packet.
“This could look like negotiating a pay increase in exchange for more time working onsite, or getting a regular RDO in return for longer working hours across the month.”
Trade-offs for a higher salary
While 65 per cent of workers wouldn’t take a pay cut for more work-life balance, like Myo they would be willing to give up some flexibility for a pay rise.
More than half (56 per cent) who can work from home said they would be willing to give it up for a pay rise of up to 20 per cent. This was higher for younger workers, with 86 per cent of Gen Z willing to return full-time for the salary increase compared to 45 per cent of Baby Boomers.
Others said they would be open to taking on more workload (29 per cent), working extra hours (27 per cent), working on-site full time (24 per cent), and receiving fewer extra perks and benefits (15 per cent) for the pay bump.
In comparison, one in four said no amount of money would get them back into the office full-time. Of those, 62 per cent were women and 56 per cent were parents.
Myo has now been working at his new job for three months and said he was happy with his decision.
“I could definitely see myself going back to Port Macquarie in the future, but I gotta build more experience. Financially and career-wise, that’s a decision I made,” he said.