Work-Life Balance: A Sustainable Strategy for Employee Wellbeing in an Aging Workforce

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-475-4_156How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Work-life balance; employee wellbeing; sustainable careers; non-work factors; China; mental health

Abstract

The modern workplace presents complex challenges to employees’ well-being, driven by the interplay of work-life balance, mental health, caregiving responsibilities, and evolving career dynamics. Drawing on a comprehensive review of literature, this study explores the multifaceted relationships among family-supportive work environments, work-family conflict, and their impacts on job satisfaction, mental health, and productivity. This study proposes a conceptual model (Figure 1) examining how non-work factors—family caregiving, health conditions, and life satisfaction—impact employee wellbeing and performance. Five hypotheses explore work-life balance as a mediator, fostering sustainable careers and societal stability. Key findings indicate that supportive workplace policies, such as flexible work arrangements, mitigate work-family spillover and enhance employee well-being, while long working hours and caregiving demands exacerbate stress and turnover intentions. Socioemotional selectivity theory and conservation of resources frameworks highlight how age and resource availability shape employees’ responses to workplace demands. Additionally, generational differences, particularly among Generation Z and Millennials, underscore the need for tailored HR strategies to address diverse expectations. These insights underscore the importance of holistic workplace interventions to foster sustainable careers and improve health-related quality of life across diverse employee populations.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - He Zhang
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/11/11
TI  - Work-Life Balance: A Sustainable Strategy for Employee Wellbeing in an Aging Workforce
BT  - Proceedings of the 2025 10th International Conference on Modern Management, Education and Social Sciences (MMET 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 1453
EP  - 1458
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-475-4_156
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-475-4_156
ID  - Zhang2025
ER  -