Workers may be hoping that AI can finally take over their drudge work in the new year\u2014ease their loads and shorten the workweek, or at least make more space for life outside the office.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s something young people in particular are eager to have: 74% of Gen Z rank work-life balance as a top consideration when choosing a job in 2025\u2014the highest of any generation\u2014according to Randstad. And in the more than 20 years of producing its Workmonitor report, it\u2019s the first time work-life balance outranked pay<\/a> as the top factor for all workers.<\/p>\n But as AI has reshaped corporate structures and enhanced productivity levels, many executive leaders are working harder than ever\u2014and expecting everyone else to follow.<\/p>\n From pushing return to office mandates<\/a> to praising around-the-clock availability, CEOs are modeling a culture where the lines between work and life blur. Nvidia\u2019s CEO Jensen Huang, for example, said he worked seven days a week this year\u2014including holidays. Zoom\u2019s CEO Eric Yuan conceded simply: \u201cwork is life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n And looking toward 2026, it\u2019s unclear whether dreams of work-life balance will come true.<\/p>\n As the leader of the world\u2019s most valuable company, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang<\/a> has a lot on his mind. Relaxation, however, does not appear to be part of the plan.<\/p>\n His work schedule is nothing short of rigorous\u2014beginginng from from the moment he wakes up until he\u2019s back on the pillow\u2014seven days a week, including holidays. It\u2019s a grind fueled not only by the intensity of the AI race, but by a lingering fear of what happens if he ever lets up.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know the phrase \u201930 days from going out of business,\u2019 I\u2019ve used for 33 years,\u201d Huang said on an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience<\/em><\/a> released in December. \u201cBut the feeling doesn\u2019t change. The sense of vulnerability, the sense of uncertainty, the sense of insecurity\u2014it doesn\u2019t leave you.\u201d<\/p>\n That mindset extends beyond Huang himself. His two children, who both work at Nvidia, follow in his footsteps and work every day for the semiconductor giant. For the Huang family, work isn\u2019t just a job\u2014it\u2019s a way of life.<\/p>\n Video communications giant Zoom has had one of the biggest indirect impacts on the work-life balance debate, thanks to making it possible for workers to log on from the comfort of a bed, beach, or anywhere in between.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, the journey to scaling the company to over $25 billion in market capital has revealed to Zoom CEO Eric Yuan<\/a> that work-life balance is a farce.<\/p>\n \u201cI tell our team, \u2018Guys, you know, there\u2019s no way to balance. Work is life, life is work,\u2019\u201d Yuan said in an interview with the Grit podcast over the summer.<\/p>\n Yuan even admitted that he doesn\u2019t have hobbies, with everything he does dedicated to \u201cfamily and Zoom.\u201d However, when there\u2019s a clash and he has to choose between the two, the 55-year-old gives life some slack: \u201cWhenever there\u2019s a conflict, guess what? Family first. That\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n Thasunda Brown Duckett<\/a>, the CEO of financial services company TIAA, has long not been a fan of the term \u201cwork-life balance\u201d\u2014often calling it an outright \u201clie\u201d\u2014and this year was no exception.<\/p>\n On a Mother\u2019s Day social media post this past spring, Duckett doubled down on the assessment once more.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s drop the work-life balance charade,\u201d she wrote<\/a>. \u201cThe truth? Balance suggests perfect\u2014and that\u2019s a trap.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cInstead, think of your life like a diversified portfolio. You only have 100% to give, and many places to allocate. So give with intention. If motherhood gives 30% today, make it a powerful, present 30%,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n For Duckett, having a constant evaluation of how much time to dedicate to everything needing attention in her life is what true a healthy relationship between work and life looks like.<\/p>\n \u201cSome days you won\u2019t feel like the best mom, leader, partner, or friend. But over time, when you lead with purpose\u2014you\u2019re more than enough.\u201d<\/p>\n This year has been a breakout year for Palantir, with its stock price up some 140%.\u00a0<\/p>\n For young people looking to get their careers off the ground, CEO Alex Karp<\/a> sent a word of warning this year: skip out on some of life\u2019s superfluous things if you want a shot at success.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never met someone really successful who had a great social life at 20,\u201d Karp said at the Economic Club of Chicago <\/a>in May.<\/p>\n \u201cIf that\u2019s what you want, that\u2019s what you want, that\u2019s great, but you\u2019re not going to be successful and don\u2019t blame anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n While Karp\u2019s comments might sting for Gen Z\u2014especially since they are the generation who place the most value<\/a> on work-life balance, Karp believes that if you put in the time when you\u2019re young, it\u2019ll all be worth it when you\u2019re older and have a more cushy job.<\/p>\n \u201cMost people have something they\u2019re talented at and enjoy. Focus on that. Organize your whole life around that,\u201d Karp added. \u201cDon\u2019t worry so much about the money\u2014that sounds like hypocrisy now, but I never really did\u2014and stay off the meth and you\u2019ll do very well.\u201d<\/p>\n Jeff Bezos may no longer run Amazon day to day, but he remains deeply involved as board chair\u2014while also growing Blue Origin and backing new AI ventures<\/a>.<\/p>\n Like several of his peers, Bezos has long taken issue with the idea of balance itself.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t love the word \u2018balance\u2019 because it implies a tradeoff,\u201d Bezos said at Italian Tech Week<\/a> in October. \u201cI\u2019ve often had people ask me, \u2018How do you deal with work-life balance?\u2019 And I\u2019ll say \u2018I like work-life harmony because if you\u2019re happy at home, you\u2019ll be better at work. If you\u2019re better at work, you\u2019ll be better at home.\u2019 These things go together. It\u2019s not a strict tradeoff.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s not the first time Bezos has expressed his grievances with the concept of work-life balance. In 2018, Bezos called it a \u201cdebilitating phrase\u201d because it implied that one has to give, in order for the other to thrive. Instead, he likes to use the word \u201charmony\u201d and likened the concept to a \u201ccircle.\u201d<\/p>\n Jamie Dimon has been one of Wall Street\u2019s most outspoken champions of full-time, in-office work. Early this year, he called most of JPMorgan\u2019s 300,000 employees back in-person<\/a> and capped the push by opening the bank\u2019s new $3 billion Manhattan headquarters<\/a>.<\/p>\n Yet even as Dimon has taken a hard line on where work gets done, he has long argued that maintaining balance is ultimately an individual responsibility\u2014not a corporate one.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is your job to take care of your mind, your body, your spirit, your soul, your friends, your family, your health. Your job, it\u2019s not our job,\u201d he said in a clip originally from 2024 that resurfaced<\/a> this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nNvidia<\/a> CEO Jensen Huang<\/h2>\n
Zoom CEO Eric Yuan<\/h2>\n
TIAA<\/a> CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett<\/h2>\n
Palantir CEO Alex Karp<\/h2>\n
Former Amazon<\/a> CEO Jeff Bezos<\/h2>\n