Overheard my boss say he never hires people who ask about work-life balance in interviews

I was grabbing coffee last Tuesday and heard my manager tell another supervisor he automatically tosses resumes of anyone who brings up work-life balance during an interview, which got me wondering if that's a common hiring bias or just his personal hang-up, has anyone else run into this kind of mindset in your field?

2 comments

2 Comments

ellis.leo8d ago

That's a pretty old school way of thinking honestly. People who ask about work life balance are often the ones who know their own worth and want to be productive long term instead of burning out after six months. I've seen so many places lose good employees because they expected everyone to just work nonstop, and then wonder why turnover is high. It feels like managers who hate that question are usually the ones who run a chaotic shop where boundaries don't exist. Maybe it's just me but asking about balance shows you care about doing good work without crashing.

drew558d ago

Oh man, follow up question for you @ellis.leo. When you see a manager get defensive about work life balance in an interview, do you think its usually because they're worried about losing control, or because they honestly just don't know how to run a team without people pulling overtime all the time? I've seen both. Once had a boss who openly said he kept people late just because he liked the vibe of everyone still at their desks when he left. That place chewed through three assistants in a year. Makes you wonder if they even realize they're the problem.