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Overqualified workers find better family balance with flexible work conditions

A study at The University of Western Australia has found that if an employee who has more skills or knowledge than a job requires is given favorable work conditions, they are more likely to have a balanced family life, according to their spouses.

Associate Professor Aleksandra Luksyte, from UWA's Business School, was a co-author of the study in Personnel Psychology.

Researchers examined the work-life relationships of two groups: hospital employees and their spouses; and employees in an information technology company and their spouses.

Favorable work conditions included being allowed to schedule start and finish times and working in an organization where competition between coworkers was discouraged and instead clear performance standards led to promotions and pay rises.

"Overqualified employees with greater schedule control can complete their work with relative ease due to their high skills levels and abilities, and this results in more free time for attending to their family needs," Associate Professor Luksyte said.

"When overqualified employees do not feel the need to dedicate all their surplus resources to outperforming their peers, they can actually use these surplus resources elsewhere, such as supporting and helping their families."

The study found the overqualified employees had time to provide emotional support to their family and practical support, such as dropping off or picking up children from school, volunteering for school events, as well as using their under-utilized management skills for household projects.

"In turn, when these overqualified employees used their extra time to support their family it resulted in better experiences for their spouses at home and in their place of work," Associate Professor Luksyte said.

The findings suggest management should consider giving overqualified workers more flexibility in their working arrangements as well as being aware of the disadvantages a competitive workplace can create.