S. Florida good at balancing work, life

Region is among those that ranked best in nationwide survey

More than 80 percent of South Florida professionals rate their work-life balance as either “excellent” or “good,” according to a new nationwide survey released by staffing firm Robert Half International.

South Florida was one of the regions that ranked best for worklife balance, according to the survey. Employees in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco also gave high marks for maintaining a healthy ratio of play to work.

The survey, conducted by independent research firms for Menlo Park, Calif.-based Robert Half, had responses from more than 2,800 workers in 28 U.S. markets and more than 5,500 business leaders from a variety of professional fields.

Higher productivity and increased loyalty are linked with a happy work force, according to Robert Half, which in 2016 interviewed more than 12,000 professional workers on the subject.

“In South Florida, we have a community surrounded by interesting and fun things to do,” said Randy McDermott, South Florida metro market manager for Robert Half. “Employers coming out of downturn realized it’s a little bit of a competitive weapon to provide work-life balance.”

He said job candidates are asking employers about their worklife balance before they take a job. Before the economy improved, “it was everyone hunker down and keep your job, work as many hours as possible. Now they have options,” McDermott said.

As a result, he sees employers offering varying work hours so employees can avoid bad traffic or drive a child to school; the ability to work more often from home; and job-sharing when desired.

One work force-savvy company in South Florida is Weston-based Ultimate Software, as evidenced by Fortune magazine naming it the top technology workplace in the country in 2018, for the third year in a row.

Ultimate’s many worker benefits “create the opportunity for our employees to have excellent work-life balance,” according to spokeswoman Heather Geronemus. For example, Ultimate pays 100 percent of the premium on