Digital regulation in the service of sustainable work-life balance

Digital technologies are an increasingly salient part of people’s lives, used every day to work, communicate, and access goods, services, and entertainment. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased people’s reliance on technology, with 40 percent or more individuals across the globe working remotely or in a hybrid model (World Health Organization & International Labour Organization, 2021), 70 percent of employers intending to continue offering hybrid work in the coming years (Bloom, 2021), and a larger share of healthcare, education, and public services being provided online (Véliz, 2021). So much of people’s work lives, family lives, social lives, and leisure now unfold online, but what will this mean for our work–life balance over the long run? In this chapter, we focus on constant connectivity through mobile devices as a striking example of how technology both facilitates and undermines people’s work–life balance. Because constant connectivity is a double-edged sword, we argue that the active regulation of digital technologies by (1) individuals, (2) organizations, and (3) policy makers and unions is the key to sustaining a healthy work–life balance.