Commuting Burden and Work-Life Balance Among Urban Office Workers: A Qualitative Study of Resource Depletion, Job Demands, and Organizational Support in an Urban Area

Abstrak

Work-life balance is an increasingly pressing concern for office workers in urban areas, where the demands of work are often intensified by the realities of city life. Beyond heavy workloads, employees must also cope with long commutes, rising living costs, and limited opportunities to rest and recover. This study explores the factors that influence work-life balance among urban office workers, the challenges they face in maintaining it, and the types of support they expect from their organizations. A descriptive qualitative approach was used, drawing on responses from 104 office workers employed across the public sector, private companies, NGOs, and state-owned enterprises. Data were gathered through open-ended questions and analyzed using thematic techniques. The analysis indicates that work-life balance is influenced by a combination of factors, including workload, time management, social support, workplace culture, flexible working arrangements, financial conditions, and an individual’s ability to establish clear boundaries between professional and personal responsibilities. Among the challenges identified, urban mobility emerged as the most frequently mentioned issue, with participants highlighting traffic congestion, lengthy commuting times, transportation expenses, and exhaustion after work. Participants also described how work pressure, expectations to work overtime, the high cost of living in cities, environmental conditions such as pollution, and concerns about physical and mental health made it more difficult to achieve a healthy balance. Many respondents expressed a desire for greater organizational support, particularly through flexible work policies, hybrid or remote working options, clearer limits on working hours, respect for employees’ personal time outside work, fairer workload allocation, and initiatives that support employee well-being. Overall, the findings indicate that work-life balance is not solely a matter of personal time management. Rather, it is shaped by the interaction between individual circumstances, organizational practices, and the broader challenges associated with urban living.