2025 FORECAST: A LIFE YOU LOVE, A JOB YOU ENJOY
For years, we’ve been talking about happiness at work and how work has taken over our lives. The COVID-19 pandemic forced us to rethink how we work, live, and balance the two. It showed us that a better way is possible. Now, the push and pull between the old (full time in person) and new ways of working (hybrid) has officially begun and soon we’ll be able to see what changes took root and what has withered on the vine.
For our part, we’re putting our money on workers—particularly our most in demand colleagues and highly effective leaders (the unicorns)—choosing to prioritize quality of life over title, perks, and even salary. And as the unicorns go, others will follow.
In 2025, we predict more employees figuring out that you can love your life and enjoy your job—without sacrificing one for the other.
But how do we get there? It starts with understanding the problem, redefining success, and breaking free from the toxic norms that have dominated workplaces for decades.
The Problem: Work Has Taken Over Our Lives
For too long, work has dominated our lives, leaving little room for personal happiness. How many of us have spent our “free time” preparing for a big meeting, catching up on work missed while caring for a sick child, or working late to meet deadlines?
Remote work during the pandemic eliminated long commutes and allowed many workers to reclaim hours daily. But that was just one piece of the puzzle. Most professionals carry workloads that can’t be completed in an 8-hour day or a 40-hour week, but they are expected to work until the job is done, especially if they’re on salary.
In the US, it is typical for salaried professionals to work well beyond the standard 40-hour week. Most employers expect an average of 45-50 hours per week, but 60 and up is not uncommon, especially for those earning higher salaries. However, when calculate your salary based on the number of hours you work, the way you value your time versus your paycheck may change.
For example, an employee paid a salary of $129,000 earns $62.02 per hour if they work 40 hours per week. The hourly rate decreases steadily as you increase the hours worked: 50 hours = $49.62; 60 hours = $41.35; 70 hours = $35.44.
When Tara first did this math problem, more than a decade ago, it shocked her into awareness. Not only was she reporting to a toxic boss, overworked, and miserable, she was making less per hour than she had after grad school. Money hadn’t been a driving factor in her career up to that point, but that equation helped her see how much she’d undervalued herself. She’d sacrificed her health, happiness, and relationships for an organization with a do-gooder mission and little to no cared for her or her colleagues. She had to see the situation in black and white before she saw her situation was unsustainable and started looking for a better way.
The Shift Toward Balance
For many, remote work has been a godsend, offering a glimpse of a more balanced life that offers opportunities that were unavailable just a few years ago. And while this is a start, flexibility alone isn’t enough. Many hybrid workers could tell you it’s far too easy to work longer hours, because they don’t have to catch a bus or train at a given time. Or that it’s far too easy to write an email from bed at midnight or five am. Likewise, many employers grew accustomed to having rapid responses from their team at all hours of the day, any day of the week, whether they were on duty or not.
True balance requires intentional effort and a shift in how we value time and energy. Regulations and policies can and should be adopted to protect employees with healthy limitations on what employers ask of them on and off the job. And in the meantime, leaders and workers can set their own boundaries, for their peers, their people managers, and the people who report to them. Healthy, respectful boundaries can create innovative, highly productive workplaces that produce excellent work and collaborative teams.
The Solution: Boundaries and Redefining Success
1. The Case for Boundaries
The key to happiness in work and life is setting boundaries. Research shows that employees who set firm limits on their work hours are often more productive than those who work longer.
When you’re at work, give it your all—focus, creativity, and energy. But when you’re off the clock, be fully present in your personal life. Spend time with your family, pursue hobbies, exercise, or simply relax. Even mundane tasks like power washing your driveway can feel fulfilling when they’re done on your terms.
Boundaries protect your time and energy, ensuring you have the space to recharge and show up as your best self. (Note: if you are afraid to set a reasonable boundary with your boss or coworker, because you think you will be fired or face other retaliation, please seek help from a trusted source. This is a red flag of a toxic environment.)
2. Redefining Success
For decades, the path to success was defined as working long hours, being constantly available, and doing whatever job, however menial, complicated, or unrecognized, was asked of you. But this definition is outdated, harmful, and almost always out-of-reach for historically underrepresented individuals. (Rude fact: working hard and being smart doesn’t guarantee success.)
The truth is you can define success however you like. You don’t have to work 80-hour weeks. You don’t have to be on call at night or on Saturdays. You can choose what “meaningful work” means to you and do that during the times that you decide are “reasonable”. You can even have time and energy to enjoy a life outside of work. True, it may not be in the corporate behemoth you always envisioned, but if you are happy, prosperous, and fulfilled, does that matter?
Breaking the Cycle: What Leaders and Organizations Must Do
Leaders who embrace this mindset and prioritize quality of life for themselves and their teams will not only foster happier, healthier workplaces, but will also see greater productivity and success. To create a world where we can love our lives and enjoy our jobs, we need to break free from toxic workplace norms.
Phrases like “work smarter, not harder” or “manage your time better” shift the blame onto employees, letting companies off the hook for setting them up to fail. But there is plenty of evidence about what works in organizations and what clearly does not, if only we are willing to put that research into practice. Effective leaders:
Provide the support, training, and resources employees need to succeed without burning out.
Model healthy work habits, by setting boundaries and prioritizing their own wellbeing.
Challenge the culture of overwork by valuing people over productivity.
This year, we challenge you to:
Balance priorities: Recognize that work is important, but so are family, health, and personal fulfillment.
Set boundaries: Protect your time and energy to avoid burnout.
Redefine success: Focus on quality over quantity, both in work and life.
Advocate for change: Push for workplaces that value people, not just productivity.
Ultimately, happiness comes when we stop trying to do everything and start focusing on what truly matters—both at work and in life. Let 2025 be the year we embrace this shift and create a future where we can truly have it all.