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Work-Life 'Balance', Recession and the Gendered Limits to Learning and Innovation (Or, Why It Pays Employers To Care).
- Source :
-
Gender, Work & Organization . May2014, Vol. 21 Issue 3, p273-294. 22p. - Publication Year :
- 2014
-
Abstract
- 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 within and between firms, which are widely recognized as fundamental for firms' long-term sustainable competitive advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 09686673
- Volume :
- 21
- Issue :
- 3
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Gender, Work & Organization
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 94801713
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12037