Why don't the presidential campaigns talk about workplace flexibility?  Work and life balance is a leading concern in most families.  According to the Attitudes in the American Workplace Survey conducted by the Marlin Company in 2004, 63 percent of Americans report that job pressure interferes with family life. MSNBC has reported that most workers (81 percent) said they were "unhappy with their work/life balance."  60 percent of Americans have reported feeling overworked, according to results from a Monster.com survey.  ComPsych Corporation's Stress Pulse Survey reports that 63 percent of workers say they are stressed to the point of "feeling extremely fatigued or out of control." Roughly two thirds of both men and women indicate that they would like to work fewer hours and this rises to three quarters among those reporting moderate to high levels of work-to-life conflict. 

There is a mismatch between the needs of workers and the structure of American workplaces today.  Businesses are already using flexibility to meet their recruitment and retention needs.  Policymakers are using creative incentives to encourage flexibility in the workplace.  There are solutions that can work for both businesses and workers.  The presidential candidate who articulates those solutions will reap a reward in November.

- David Gray