Workers with a background in healthcare and transport & logistics are among the most likely to have experienced a work-related break-up.
That’s according to research from WMB Logistics, which polled 3,000 retired Britons about how their previous career choices and working lives had affected their personal relationships, particularly with their partners.
89% of retirees agreed that issues relating to their careers had affected their day-to-day lives outside of the workplace, with ‘a pressure to hit targets’ (29%), ‘long/unsociable working hours’ (24%) and ‘poor relationships with co-workers’ (16%) emerging as the most likely reasons why.
When asked if their career had been a contributing factor in the breakdown of a long-term relationship or marriage during their working lives, almost one third (31%) admitted that it had been.
All participants taking part in the study, whether they’d experienced a relationship breakdown or not, were asked to state the industry or sector they’d worked in to determine any patterns.
Subsequently, the five industries in which workers were most likely to have experienced relationship breakdowns were found to be:
- Healthcare – 65% (the number of relationship breakdowns in this sector alone)
- Transport & Logistics – 61%
- Social care – 56%
- Hospitality – 56%
- Sport & Fitness – 54%
Those who cited that long or unsociable working hours were the main reason their work-life balance failed stated it had affected their relationship as they typically either ‘drifted apart’ from their partner (36%) or one or both of them had gone on to be unfaithful (24%).
When looking at the industries found to be the most successful at maintaining a long-term partnerships, those working in Administration (5%), Hair and Beauty (7%) and Retail sectors (8%) all had very low percentages in terms of the number of failed relationships.
Just 5% attributed relationship/marriage counselling to their success, with over half (56%) disclosing how they and made time for their partner and left their working lives outside of the home.
A senior spokesperson for WMB Logistics said: “The majority of us spend a significantly larger portion of our waking hours at work than we do at home with our spouses and families, so what little time we do get should be spent wisely; talking, enjoying each other’s company and leaving work at the office. That being said, in many industries there are pressures and deadlines that will mean work spills into the evenings and weekends, and sometimes that simply can’t be helped.
“As our research indicates, a lot of people are experiencing failed relationships due to the pressures of work creeping into their personal lives. In order to avoid this happening to you, try making a conscious effort to leave work behind as much as you can and focus on staying present in the moment with your loved ones. Relationships naturally breakdown sometimes, but you should never let your job be one of the reasons why.”
Image by andreas160578 from Pixabay
