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Euronews
10-07-2025
- Business
- Euronews
What are the best European countries for work-life balance?
Luxembourg, Ireland, and Belgium are all top contenders for the best place to work in Europe, according to the findings of two work-life balance studies out this week. HR Platform Remote and JobLeads, an international job site, crunched publicly available databases to determine where workers are best off. JobLeads ranked European countries using their retirement age, hours worked per year, burnout, remote work rates, and sick days. The results were then standardised and weighted on a scale of 10. Remote evaluated the 60 richest countries worldwide by gross domestic product (GDP) on measures such as safety and LGBTQ+ friendliness, along with traditional work markers like base pay, the average length of a work week, and statutory holidays. Each metric received a weighted score and countries were then given a total score out of 100. Luxembourg, Ireland top of the pack The studies disagreed on which European country landed at the top: for JobLeads, that was Luxembourg and for Remote, it was Ireland. Luxembourg offers work conditions that are 'particularly balanced,' the JobLeads report found, with a 35-hour work week over roughly 35 professional working years. Workplaces also give an average of 14 days of sick leave in Luxembourg, which is much higher than the European average. That means Luxembourgish people spend, on average, 47.8 years of their lives not working, which JobLeads says is the second-highest number in Europe, just behind the Italians with 51 years. However, Luxembourg has a slightly higher-than-average burnout rate at 11.6 per cent of their salaried workers, which the researchers believe could be tied to a high rate of full-time employees working from home. Remote did not include Luxembourg in its study, given it evaluated the world's biggest economies. It gave the No. 1 spot to New Zealand, but Ireland was close behind as the top scorer in Europe, partly because it is among the safest countries to live and work in, the researchers said. In Remote's study, seven European capital cities made it to the top 10 global ranking of best countries to work and live in, including Belgium, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Spain, and Finland. Canada and Australia rounded out the top 10. The United States dropped from 55th to 59th place on the list, just above Nigeria, due to declining public safety and LGBTQ+ friendliness. Belgium ranks high in both studies Belgium, while not the top country in either study, performed well in both – placing third in Remote's study and fourth in JobLeads' analysis. Both studies noted that Belgians worked a 34.1 hour work week – at least an hour less on average per week than their colleagues in Luxembourg, France, and Sweden, which topped the JobLeads report. Belgium scores high on Remote's study as well, notably for statutory holidays, sick and maternity leave. It tied with Sweden for the highest rate of employees who reported some form of hybrid or remote work, at 14.3 per cent. The country lost points for its retirement age, which at 66 is higher than the countries at the top of the chart. Germany performs well internationally, less so in Europe Work-life balance in Germany is often considered strong when compared to the world's biggest economies, rather than its neighbours in Europe. Germany came fourth in the Remote study because of an increase in the country's statutory sick pay in 2025. The criteria for general happiness and LGBTQ+ friendliness had also risen since Remote's 2024 survey. But when compared to its European neighbours, Germans are some of the oldest to retire at 67, have one of the longest work careers at 40 years, and have a relatively high burnout rate at 10.2 per cent. On average, Germans do work fewer hours per week and per year than their European peers. Like Luxembourg, 12 per cent of their workforce is working remotely at least some of the time. Big difference in results for France One country scored fairly differently in the two reports: France. It came second in JobLeads study and 16th in the Remote report. French people work roughly 37 years over their lifetimes, and have the youngest retirement age in the study at 64 despite recent changes, the JobLeads study found. They also work a relatively short week at 35.6 hours, but not 'as little as we might think,' according to the researchers, who noted that Belgium, Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands have shorter work weeks. The French also have lower rates of burnout compared to their peers in Belgium and Sweden, despite still having at least one-sixth of their workforce in hybrid or remote work. But internationally, France barely cracked the top 20 in the Remote study. It was docked points for statutory sick day policies, the relatively low minimum hourly wage at €14.12, and the fact that researchers deemed it less safe than its European counterparts.
Fast Company
19-06-2025
- General
- Fast Company
Late for work. Laid off. Office romance. What your dreams about work might really mean
Ever dream about work? Have nightmares? According to a survey by the mattress review site , nearly two-thirds of us have job-related dreams that cause us to wake up stressed out and worried. Instead of shrugging them off, you might want to take note. While no definitive answer exists on the meaning of dreams, notable scientists, including Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, believed they hold messages. Freud, for example, considered dreaming to be an expression of repressed or unconscious conflicts or desires, while Jung explained dreams as thoughts released by the subconscious, creating an internal dialogue. Modern research recently concluded that dreams are part of the brain's data-dumping function, consolidating information it deems to be important. Dream interpreter Inbaal Honigman believes there is meaning in the dreams that you remember. 'It could be something super benign, or it could be more than that,' she says. Honigman teamed up with JobLeads, an online job search platform, analyzing search data to find the most popular work-related dreams. Here are some of the most common, along with Honigman's take on what they could be trying to tell you.
Forbes
28-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The U.S. Is the World's #1 Freelance Market: Here's How to Cash In
If you live in the U.S. and are on the fence about starting a career as a freelance professional, you need to act now. You already live in one of the most desirable locations in the world for freelance workers and independent contractors. Here are some reasons why: First, the United States dominates the global freelance hiring market, boasting more employers hiring freelancers than any other country in the world, a recent JobLeads study reveals, ranking it as the number one country for freelancers. Coming in at second third, fourth, and fifth place are Spain, Mexico, the U.K. and Columbia. Second, Upwork's Freelance Forward report released in late 2023 which analyzed the microeconomic and industry trends surrounding freelancing, found that 64 million Americans (the equivalent to about 38% of the U.S. workforce) are already freelancers. Projections by Statista researchers point to a future of work where freelancers dominate the U.S. job market, leading to more than half of the American workforce (86.5 million) working as independent businesses rather than working under a job title granted by their employer, by 2027. This freelance boon is due to several factors such as: And with all these developments, the U.S. stands as the epicenter of freelancing and gig economy growth, with its prime hubs for innovation and tech and forward-thinking startups. And let's not forget, your capacity for earning more as a freelancer in the U.S. can sometimes be significantly more than in some other geographical markets. So where do you fit into all of this growth and development, and how can you cash in? If your work has an in-person element to it, or if you're trying to target a highly specific niche audience/market (which you should), you should research what U.S. cities favor your work and service offer. TurboTax recently issued a report on the top 45 cities for side hustles in the United States, and you can go through the full list and see what cities are best for your specialism. For example, if you're a freelance photographer or planning to start a photography business, the three best U.S. cities by demand are Elmira, NY, Rapid City, SD, and Charlottesville, VA, which actually share a tie. If your business is mainly remote, you can target lucrative areas with your ads and marketing efforts. The key skills currently required by U.S. companies (who would be your corporate clients for B2B freelancing projects and contracts) include analytical thinking, AI and big data, creativity, and UX (user experience), according to World Economic Forum data. You can check out the full list of 20 in-demand skill sets needed in the U.S. today, in this article. These skills lead to high-income opportunities such as digital marketing, AI consulting, and data analysis projects. What's even better is when you make your skills more niche. The more specialized you become in a highly specific field, the more you can make money from it and it will be easier for you to build credibility and trust with potential clients. Join freelancing platforms for niche expert talent, such as Contra or TopTal, so you can secure the best-paying contracts from U.S. companies who take hiring freelancers seriously. Position yourself for exclusive access to these marketplaces by building a robust portfolio and gathering evidence of your results through case studies and testimonials. It's clear that the freelance economy in the U.S. is buzzing with opportunities, but it will only make a difference for you if you take action and move from thinking to doing. Even if you just start with setting up your LLC, optimizing your LinkedIn, or creating a freelance profile on Toptal, you'll still be miles ahead of the next professional who only dreams but never gets it done. Make your presence visible in the U.S. freelancer market and online. Welcome to the new way to work.
