Rethinking compatibility of work and family life

As a father myself, I know very well the challenges of reconciling family and career. And I'm not alone: compatibility is an ongoing issue for us all. Whether we're caring for relatives, doing volunteer work, pursuing further education, looking after our children or taking care of our own health and well-being.

So, how do we balance work and life without sacrificing either one? Perhaps the question is phrased inaccurately. The term work-life balance gives the impression that work and life are somehow separate, in competition with each other – an opposite even. In reality, our work is a very substantial part of our lives. And our life is also part of our work.

COVID-19 has changed the workplace as we have known it. It has blurred even more the boundaries between work and home life. The post-pandemic outcome is very clear: work is hybrid. Companies have to embrace more flexibility.

That's why a more proactive and integrative approach is needed: we call it work-life compatibility. This approach views work in a wider context and helps create synergies between all those areas that we define as life: our family, our home, our career, our friends, our personal well-being, and our health.

Such a way of thinking and acting also acknowledges that there is not only one single measure that leads to success. Sure, longer paternity leave is great, but it is by adopting a strategic approach that ultimately leads to better work-life compatibility.

At Swiss Re, we constantly ask ourselves: How can we create a flexible and attractive working environment that best supports the different life phases of our employees? Do we understand what our employees really want from life - today and also tomorrow? And how can we as an employer create a culture and workplace that supports them?

We already offer many solutions tailored to different stages of life including flexible work options (we call it ‘Own The Way You Work’, which has been an integral part of our culture since 2014), gradual retirement solutions, extended parental leave, and holiday camps for kids, to name just a few.

And now we're going a step further by introducing Swiss Re Kids House, our new flexible inhouse childcare service for children aged from 3 months up to 12 years. Places will be available even at short notice in case something unplanned happens in terms of your childcare arrangements.

It's a bold, innovative, and inclusive offering for our working parents that sets a new benchmark in Zurich and our industry. It may help reduce stress when a short-term need emerges, creates a more equitable workplace and facilitates the work-life compatibility we're aiming for.

The dedicated open office space just above the Kids House allows parents to be near their children and helps them to return to the office in the hybrid and flexible post-pandemic working environment. Our goal is to appreciate and support those of our employees juggling multiple roles, empower working parents and enable them to reconcile work and family life more easily.

For younger generations, flexibility has become a fundamental decision factor when choosing an employer. Traditional gender roles are losing importance, and the new generations have a stronger focus on self-realisation, lifelong learning, and family-friendliness.

According to a study by UBS, Switzerland will lack up to 500,000 qualified workers by 2030. To ensure that we attract the best talent at a time of demographic changes and shortages of skilled workers a proactive approach to work-life-compatibility is not a nice-to-have. Clearly, it's a long-term business requirement if we are to continue to be globally competitive and successful as a firm. 

The relationship between employees and the workplace has changed in ways that require companies to seriously invest in a variety of flexible solutions for all stages of life. At Swiss Re, in that way we help our employees achieve their true potential for the benefit of themselves, our clients, and the firm.