Representations of work—life balance support

Abstract

This article explores how employers portray themselves as supporters of work—life balance (WLB) in texts found on 24 websites of 10 different companies. With a theoretical framework based on a critical reflection on strategic HRM, feminist studies of organizational culture and hegemonic power processes, we examine implicit and explicit messages of work, life, and WLB support. We study the cultural norms that can be distilled from these articulations, including the concepts of the ideal worker and the ideal parent and discuss the possible (unintended) effects of the implicit and explicit messages. Our analysis shows the ambiguity of the different messages conveyed on WLB support. In contrast to the explicit supportive messages, implicit messages present WLB-arrangements as a privilege. The majority of websites reproduce traditional cultural norms regarding ideal workers and parents and the power of hegemony is not broken. Apparently, WLB support does not always signify support.