- A new analysis found the Norwegian capital, Oslo, to be the world's best city for work-life balance.
- The software company Kisi measured benefits like average vacation days and paid parental leave.
- The top-ranking US city was Seattle, which came in at No. 32.
A new analysis has concluded that Oslo, Norway, is the best city in the world for work-life balance.
The top six cities for work-life balance as determined by the software company Kisi were all European, and no US city ranked in the top 10. The top-ranking US city was Seattle, which came in at No. 32.
Kisi based its rankings on factors including safety, healthcare, the number of remote jobs available, and the number of days of paid parental leave. The analysis also included the availability of outdoor spaces, air quality, and inflation.
Based on these metrics, the top 10 cities for work-life balance are:
- Oslo, Norway
- Bern, Switzerland
- Helsinki
- Zurich
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Geneva
- Ottawa, Ontario
- Sydney
- Stuttgart, Germany
- Munich
Cities in Germany make up nearly a third of the top 30 cities on the list. After Seattle, the next-highest-ranking US cities are Portland, Minneapolis, and Salt Lake City.
Oslo, Norway's capital and most populous city, is located in the southeast of the country. It has a huge maritime industry and is also home to companies in the life sciences, IT, and energy and environmental-technology sectors.
According to Kisi's data, workers in Oslo take on average 25 days of vacation a year and get 707 days of paid parental leave. The city also scored highly for remote working, quality and availability of healthcare, and air quality.
The pandemic has caused a huge shift in people's working lives. More people are working from home, and that trend appears to be here to stay even as workers become less concerned about COVID-19.
The surge in remote working means some people have used the past two years as an opportunity to relocate. City centers in the US saw their populations decline as people flocked to suburban areas.
Thousands of people have moved to Florida during the pandemic, with some citing the climate, low rent, and lack of personal-income tax. Other states including Maine, Idaho, and Nevada also saw high rates of migration.
As well as moving home, the pandemic has also made people rethink their jobs and assess their work-life balance. This has led to record quit rates in the US as people seek positions with better wages, hours, and working conditions.