Work–Life 'Balance', Recession and the Gendered Limits to Learning and Innovation (Or, Why It Pays Employers To Care). Issue 3 (13th December 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: James, Al
• Is Part Of: Gender work and organization. Volume 21:Issue 3(2014:May)
• Page Start: 273
• Page End: 294
• Publication Date: 2013-12-13
• Subjects: Sex role in the work environment -- Periodicals; Sexual division of labor -- Periodicals; Sex discrimination in employment -- Periodicals; Organizational sociology -- Periodicals; Industries -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; 306.361505
• DOI: 10.1111/gwao.12037
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0968-6673

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p>The everyday challenges faced by workers 'struggling to juggle' competing commitments of paid work, home and family remain stubbornly persistent and highly gendered. Reinforcing these problems, many employers regard work–life balance (WLB) provision as too costly. In response, this paper explores the learning and innovation advantages that can result from WLB provision in knowledge‐intensive firms, as part of a WLB 'mutual gains' research agenda. These synergies are explored through a case study of IT workers and firms in two high‐tech regional economies — Dublin, Ireland and Cambridge, UK — prior to (2006–8) and subsequent to (2010) the economic downturn. The results suggest that by making available the kinds of WLB arrangements identified by workers as offering meaningful reductions in gendered work–life conflicts, employers can also enhance the learning and innovation processes <italic>within and between</italic> firms, which are widely recognized as fundamental for firms' long‐term sustainable competitive advantage.</p> </abstract>