Achieving a work life balance in IT

Date: 2 Aug 2011

If you are considering a job in IT, the good news is that the number of new IT jobs created in the UK has risen 28% year-on-year.

According to research for the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) 90,416 new IT jobs were advertised on job boards in May, compared to 70,912 in May 2010.

APSCo says companies are investing in technology after having reined in spending during the recession and see IT as vital to boosting their competitive advantage and deliver significant productivity gains. It says there are skills shortages in some areas and candidates with niche skills are receiving multiple job offers and big pay increases.

One of the up and coming areas is cloud computing which allows people to access work remotely. Businesses are also keen to promote social media. Some 69% of UK businesses have appointed or plan to appoint a social media or community manager in next 12 months, according to a recent EPiServer study of 250 UK marketing decision makers.

Research also shows that IT and Telecoms salaries have been rising. Research by IT & Telecoms recruiter Greythorn shows salaries have risen by 7.5% in 2011.

Since IT is the key that has opened the door to mobile working and made huge strides possible in work life balance policies, it makes sense that those who work for IT firms should be in some sense at the forefront of innovative ways of smart working.

Microsoft
One company which aims to marry its work life balance policies with the technology it is working on is Microsoft.

The firm gives its workers laptops and smart phones. “It is what we do and what we sell. In a sense all our employees are testing our products,” says Theresa McHenry, Head of People and Organisational Capability at Microsoft.

This merging of what the company does with the way staff work helps to push the mobile working agenda forward. For instance, Microsoft is looking at ways of increasing remote workers’ feelings of connectivity and collaboration.

This includes being able to share desktops so staff can work on documents together or having a photo feature in Outlook so they can see the person they are emailing and feel more connected to them.

McHenry says a lot of work life balance issues have started with working mums and are now extending out to others. For instance, Microsoft offers coaching to mums returning to work which allows them to talk about all sorts of issues that are personal to them, including worries about their children.

“We recognised that it could help more people than mums,” says McHenry, “that there were other individuals who might be in need of support like fathers who get less time off but are struggling with many of the same issues, like broken sleep.”

Microsoft also offers help for certain times when staff might need it, such as when their children start school. It is currently exploring extending help to people who are caring for elderly relatives and dealing with other stressful situations.

McHenry, who herself has had to care for an elderly relative, says it can be more difficult than childcare since it is often less predictable, for instance, it can involve taking time off to attend hospital appointments. On the technical side, Microsoft is looking at ways to synchronise people's caring responsibilities with their work appointments in Outlook.

McHenry says Microsoft is keen to learn from other countries and companies what can improve work life balance.

“One of the advantages of being a global company is that someone somewhere around the world has a good idea and we can capitalise on that,” says McHenry. However, Microsoft has to take into account the British context and respond to British legislation and what other British companies are doing. It also discusses with its employees what they think would make for a better work life balance.

Well being
At its HQ in Reading it has a range of different services which aim to make employees’ work life balance easier. For instance, it has an on-site shop which caters for any emergencies, selling everything from food to aspirins. There is also a dry cleaning services, an on-site creche, a cashpoint and for a while it offered staff the ability to get their supermarket shopping delivered to work via Ocado. “It’s the sort of things that you don’t realise how you coped without before when you couldn’t do them during your working day,” says McHenry.

For Microsoft work life balance is linked to the broader issue of well being. At its HQ in Reading and its London office is also has an on-site well being centre. This includes occupational health and health promotion. For instance, it offers complementary therapies and guidance on different illnesses and on caring for the elderly. There is a doctor who can issue prescriptions and staff can get an annual health audit. The centre runs sessions, such as weekly weigh-ins.

McHenry, who herself is a working mum who does 80% hours a week, says the culture at Microsoft is about managing outputs rather than where or how you work. “That is under your control to a certain extent,” says McHenry. “Life is integrated with work. You might want to do a morning swim and come in later or work while you are travelling. We are trying to keep on top of what is new and possible,” she says.

For those who prefer to strike out on their own, there are a number of possibilities for setting up your own IT-related business. Freelancing is one and the PCG can give advice here. Another is working as a franchisee. Harsha Popat is a franchisee for Click IT! Kids which offers IT lessons to preschool children. Read her story.