Companies with the Best Work-Life Balance

For some people, the balance between work and their personal lives is a struggle, but others navigate the two in perfect harmony. While a portion of work-life balance relies on the individual person to manage, some companies make it a priority to encourage workers to disconnect, recharge, and maintain boundaries between their professional responsibilities and personal lives. 

At Rula, we understand that work-life balance is more than a buzzword. It can have a real impact on not only your mental well-being but also on your relationships and overall quality of life. That’s why we set out to learn more about the state of work-life balance across the U.S.

To do this, we scraped more than 1.7 million Glassdoor reviews for 185 of the most high-profile companies across the country. We then analyzed reviews in both the pros and cons section for mentions of more than 100 keywords related to work-life balance. 

We then divided the number of mentions by the total number of reviews to calculate a percentage of mentions by company. We then used this percentage to rank companies based on the best work-life balance, as well as schedule flexibility, remote and hybrid work, family, wellness, time off, and workload. Read on to learn which companies offer workers the best balance. 

Where employees have the best and worst work-life balance

While working for a high-profile company can look great on a resume, it can sometimes be an overly demanding environment. As more and more Americans share their desire for a positive work-life balance, more companies have made strides in creating a culture that supports it.

Leading the way for the best work-life balance is American Express with 21.91% of reviews mentioning positive work-life balance. With an overall company rating of 4.1 on Glassdoor, American Express also has a 4.1 rating for work-life balance, the fifth highest of the more than 100 companies we analyzed. 

Coming in second place for the best work-life balance is Fannie Mae with 21.64% of reviews praising the company for a good balance. In third place is the first company in the IT and technology industry, Oracle, with 21.43% of positive work-life balance mentions in reviews. 

Overall, we found companies within the IT and technology industry were the most likely to be praised for their efforts in maintaining a good balance of employees’ personal and work lives, with nine companies claiming spots in the top 20. This is followed by eight financial companies which also landed in the top 20, making it the second best industry for fostering positive work-life balance.

According to the National Library of Medicine, a better work-life balance can improve job satisfaction, performance, and commitment to an organization. Beyond that, a positive balance reduces the risk of psychological distress, emotional exhaustion, anxiety, and depression.

Companies with the best worker wellness

In addition to overall work-life balance at high-profile companies, we also analyzed keyword mentions for six other categories: worker wellness, schedule flexibility, remote and hybrid work, family, time off, and workload, factors that can impact how an employee feels about their balance.

Leading the way with the best worker wellness is Humana, a health insurance company headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. This category includes keywords associated with overall wellness, as well as stress, mental health, self care, and burnout, and it makes sense that a company in the healthcare industry would top the ranking. Humana’s company benefits page even highlights how they prioritize supporting employees in taking an active role in their health, reflecting its broader commitment to helping people lead healthier lives.

Coming in second place for the best worker wellness is Salesforce, a cloud-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform. This is followed by PayPal Holdings, Cigna, and Day & Zimmermann in third, fourth, and fifth place, respectively. 

While the COVID-19 pandemic forced many companies to move workers online for safety, many Americans have come to favor remote and hybrid environments. When looking at company reviews regarding these workflows, we found Elevance Health and Molina Healthcare received the most praise from their employees for remote and hybrid work. 

Another major factor of worker mental health is vacation time. While the amount of days can vary from one company to the next, taking time off from work is crucial for an employee’s mental health, helping them to feel more productive and rejuvenated when returning to the office. And leading the way with the most positive mentions of vacation time are Hartford Insurance Group and Discover.

Support a healthier work-life balance with Rula

Work-life balance can look different for everyone. Sometimes the key to striking the right balance, however, relies on companies to understand that employees do their best work when they have the time and support to care for themselves outside of the office. 

At Rula, we know that workplace expectations are constantly evolving, and while company policies are bound to differ from one to the next, it is crucial that you create healthy boundaries. This can be difficult to do, but with the right advocates supporting you through the process, you will be balancing all that your job and life has to throw at you in no time. 

With the help of our licensed therapists and providers, you can learn how to manage your stress and how to set boundaries that prioritize your mental health. Get started today by filling out a couple of questions regarding your insurance and type of care you’re seeking, and we’ll match you with a therapist who best fits your needs. 

Methodology

In this study, we set out to learn which of the highest profile U.S. companies offer workers the best work-life balance. To do this, we used Forbes' top private companies and Fortune 500's largest companies by revenue to build a list of 400 high-profile U.S. companies. We then scraped Glassdoor profiles for all companies and analyzed reviews for mentions of more than 100 keywords related to work-life. We then split the keywords into seven categories including work-life balance, schedule flexibility, remote and hybrid work, family, wellness, time off, and workload. 

After collecting this data, we refined our list of companies to remove any where a majority of employees do not work in a traditional office space (i.e., retail and restaurant workers). Additionally, any company with fewer than 1,000 reviews was removed. This brought our final list of companies to 185 with more than 1.7 million total reviews in English analyzed. 

Next, we added together mentions of all keywords by category and divided the sum by the total number of reviews written in English. We then ranked companies by the percent of mentions for each category in both the "pros" and "cons" section of reviews. In addition to overall rankings, we also calculated the percent of positive and negative work-life balance mentions by industry. Finally, we filtered our list of companies to only include those with the top 100 highest revenue to determine the top highest earning companies with the best work-life balance.