In its latest study, emolument asked 1,360 professionals how they feel about their work-life balance and the results are telling: 71 per cent of engineers and software developers consider their work-life balance as either great or satisfactory. The reason, according to emoluement.com: “These highly sought-after employees are often able to negotiate perks such as unlimited holidays, flexible hours or days working from home. Not being in a client-facing role, these jobs do not demand set hours at a desk.”

Consultants are notorious for working long hours, and unsurprisingly are the most unhappy: 49 per cent consider their work-life balance to be awful. The reason, according to emolument.com: “At their clients' beck and call, they are rarely in control of their working location and hours.”

If you are really serious about work-life-balance, study French and move to France. 71 per cent of its workers are satisfied by their work-life balance. “Five weeks holidays and 35 hours working week go some way to explaining their enthusiasm,” comments emolument.com.

Countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore and United Arab Emirates are at the bottom of the table (56 per cent of workers in the United Arab Emirates think their work-life balance is awful). While these locations offer top salaries to expatriate employees, they expect a high commitment in return.

Read more at Emolument