#PandaPounds: Work-life balance in Ecommerce, part 1

Are ecommerce professionals happy with their work-life balance? 77% of those who responded to our 2017 ecommerce salary survey, believe that ecommerce teams are growing and will continue to do so.

In an industry that is growing, is work-life balance in ecommerce being taken into consideration enough? Are ecommerce professionals happy with the balance between work and play?

For our latest two part #PandaPounds feature, we are going to delve into all the aspects that define work-life balance in ecommerce – overtime, the average working week and how managers can help employees feel more balanced.

The working week: The basis of work-life balance in ecommerce

What does an average working week look like in the life of ecommerce professionals? There is no doubt about how varied their week can be, but determining their work-life balance starts with their contracted working hours.

We can see that 37.5 contracted hours per week is the most popular answer, with 40 hours per week a close second. This remains relatively unchanged from 2016, though it is interesting to note that the majority of the 9% who selected ‘other’ are contracted to work 42-45 hours per week. Will we see the standard working week slowly extend as the industry evolves?

How much overtime do ecommerce professionals complete?

Overtime can have a big effect on work-life balance in ecommerce, and our respondents certainly do their share of it.

• 11% do no overtime whatsoever. It’s interesting to note that of these respondents (who do not do overtime), 38% would be unhappy to do so while 41% wouldn’t mind doing overtime. Even more interesting, 83% are happy with their work-life balance.
• 11% of our respondents told us they do a few minutes overtime throughout the week. This could range from quickly checking emails outside contracted working hours or taking a quick call or two. 77% of these respondents don’t mind doing this, and the nature of the ‘overtime’ suggests it’s a personal choice. Finally, 83% are happy with their work life balance in ecommerce.
• A small 5% of our respondents complete about half an hour of overtime a week. The majority (80%) don’t mind completing this extra work and 87% are happy with their work-life balance.
• 9% of our respondents will do one hour of overtime in the week. 72% don’t mind doing so though if it began to slowly increase, it would change their feelings towards overtime. 76% of these respondents are happy with their work-life balance.

It’s not overly surprising to see those doing smaller amounts of overtime being relatively satisfied with work-life balance in ecommerce. However, as seen below, the majority of our respondents are doing more than one hour a week. Will sentiments towards work-life balance begin to change?

• 30% of our respondents complete 2-3 hours of overtime per week. 63% don’t mind doing this while 24% are unhappy with this amount of overtime. Ultimately, 68% of people of our respondents who do 2-3 hours of overtime per week are happy with their work-life balance.
• 21% of our respondents complete 3-5 hours of overtime per week. So how do they feel about their work-life balance? Well, 51% are happy with their work-life balance in the ecommerce industry which is a significant drop compared to those who do less overtime.
• Of the 13% of respondents who answered ‘other’, some of their answers include 10-15 hours, five hours plus and between 5 and 25 hours depending on the week!

Where do ecommerce professionals complete overtime?

We can see now that work-life balance in ecommerce doesn’t feel like an achievable thing the more overtime people commit to (or are expected to do.) Whether they complete this overtime in the office, on the commute or at home, the negative effect on their work-life balance will show. Let’s take a quick look at where ecommerce professionals manage to squeeze in some overtime…

*Please note that respondents could give more than one answer to this question, so totals will not add up to 100%

As we can see, the office is the most popular (is that the right word?) place to do overtime. It could be they get to the office a bit earlier, or find that there is still plenty to do when it comes to the end of the day. Home is also a popular location for overtime…perhaps it’s an attempt to bridge the work-life balance gap?

Only 15% of our respondents will get some overtime in during their holidays, so at least most of our respondents know that holidays are the time to switch off!

Stay tuned for part 2 of our work-life balance in ecommerce feature

There is plenty to cover when it comes to work-life balance in the ecommerce industry. Here’s what to expect in part 2…

• Looking at our respondents as a whole, how many of them are really happy with their work-life balance?
• Are people paid for overtime?
• Would this make up for work-life balance being affected?
• Do employees feel management is responsible for them not feeling happy about their work-life balance?
• What can managers do to make sure the perfect work-life balance is attainable for their employees?