Tāmaki Makaurau has been revealed as one of the top cities for balancing office hours with beach time.

Auckland was named the fifth top city for work-life balance and the only non-European city in Forbes Advisor’s top 10 places to work.

After discovering that just over half of respondents (54 per cent) would take a lower salaried job in exchange for a better work-life balance the UK-based publication went in search of the most desirable destinations that have their occupational priorities in order.

Reviewing 128 of the world’s biggest urban centres, the Worldwide Work-Life Balance Index 2023 ranked each city out of 100.

Taking into account a number of indices – including gender equality, average working hours and access to nature reserves – the publication found that Auckland was the most desirable place to relocate in the Southern Hemisphere.

With a work-life score of 62.7, Auckland was 12 places above Brisbane, the next Austrilasian city which scored 53.3.

However if you’re happy to take the risk of relocating and ‘living Danishly’, there was one European capital that offered a more rounded lifestyle than any other.

Copenhagen was named the best city in the world for work-life balance.

Although Auckland outcompeted Copenhagen for access to green spaces, daylight hours and (surprisingly) had slightly more affordable housing, the Danish hub outperformed in almost every other metric.

Unemployment rates were just 2.4 per cent and Danish employees had the enviable workload of just 25.9 hours a week.

The other Scandinavian capitals of Helsinki, Stockholm and Oslo also ranked above Auckland. The city of sails performed well overall but was let down by an atrocious Gender Inequality Index rating of 25. This was around five times worse than the other top cities, outside of the UK.

No cities in the US ranked in the top work-life index, after being let down by many of the key employment indices.

Employees in the US are legally entitled to zero days paid annual leave and maternity leave. The highest ranking US city for work-life balance was Atlanta which fell outside of the rankings, coming in at 52nd in the world.

Abu Dhabi rounded out the index, as the only city in the top 25 not in Europe or Australasia.

“Happy employees are also likely to remain in their roles for longer, reducing the considerable time and costs associated with recruiting new staff,” said Kevin Pratt, Business Expert for Forbes Advisor.

“Businesses that strive to provide an environment that encourages and supports a healthy work-life balance will also attract the best candidates. And, of course, a business’ success – financial and otherwise – is almost entirely down to its people.”

The 25 best places to live for Work-Life Balance

Source: forbes.com; World Work-Life Balance Index 2023