If you could really work from anywhere...?

Where would you work from if you could live and work from anywhere you wanted?

Where exactly is anywhere and why would you want to work from there? Is safety your biggest concern? Or maybe healthcare? Would you prefer a place with a greater number of remote jobs or a location that provides more days of parent leave? Maybe the availability of outdoor spaces, air quality or inflation is your driving issue?

The pandemic has caused most people to reconsider their lives and what is important to them. And if you are looking for all of the above, you need to consider this analysis by Kisi, a software company. Their report shares an analysis of the "Cities that have the best work-life balance for 2022". By comparing data (over 130 different data points) on work intensity, institutional support, legislation, and liveability, the study ranks cities based on their success in promoting work-life balance to their citizens, in the context of rampant inflation and the fallout from the pandemic and war in Ukraine. 

Which cities did they review and where is the data from?

The city selection consists of 51 US cities, as well as 49 global cities that were shortlisted for analysis as global economic hubs. The data for the study was sourced from international organizations, NGO reports, open access datasets, public surveys and crowdsourcing platforms. Significant outliers and missing data at city level were inferred from national statistics. The study was divided into three categories: Work Intensity, Society and Institutions, and City Liveability.

Who won?

From an overall work-life balance perspective, last year, the top three were Helsinki, Oslo, and Zurich. This year, Oslo snags the top spot, and Bern, which was not in the mix at all last year leaped over Helsinki which is now #3. There were only 3 North American cities in the Top 20, and those were all Canadian: Ottawa (#7), Vancouver (#16) and Toronto (#19). As for the United States, Seattle comes in best in country and #33 in the world, with Portland right after at #34. Have to shout out for Minneapolis at #35!  Last year Salt Lake City ranked highest in the U.S. but dropped 12 spots in this years results. The first APAC city to get on the list is Sydney at #8. Then Melbourne (#12), Tokyo (#14) and Auckland (#17) make the Top 20.

When it comes to the most "over-worked", the top cities were:

And then, interestingly, they also ranked the top cities related to "covid support" and those top 5 were:

Their website let's you access the data tables and each individual column is filterable, allowing you to sort by each data category. For example, when looking at "Inclusivity and Tolerance", Auckland comes in best with Cologne right after while Dubai sits at the bottom of the list! When it comes to outdoor space, Minneapolis was the top, with Nashville right after at #2 but Dubai again at the bottom in part probably due to a very low air quality rating. Lastly, it's the Swiss that lead in happiness with Bern at #1 and Geneva at #2 and they were the only cities with a perfect 100 score.