Work-Life Balance: What Does It Look Like for Malaysia?
New Zealand Tops the List, While Malaysia Has Room to Grow
According to Remote.com’s 2025 (report), countries like New Zealand, Ireland, and Belgium are leading the way when it comes to policies and conditions that support a more balanced lifestyle. The report ranked the world’s top 60 GDP nations based on factors such as statutory leave, minimum wage, and overall well-being.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Top 10 Countries for Work-Life Balance (2025)
These rankings are based on several workplace-related factors, such as:
- Overall happiness
- Statutory annual leave
- Maternity leave
- Minimum wage
New Zealand tops the list with a score of 86.87%, thanks to its strong performance in areas such as statutory annual leave, public happiness, safety, and minimum wage.
It’s followed by Ireland (81.17%) and Belgium (75.91%), with most of the top-ranking countries being European nations.
Malaysia vs New Zealand: A Closer Look
To put things into perspective, let’s compare Malaysia, with New Zealand, the global leader in work-life balance. Currently, Malaysia ranks 27th.
When compared to New Zealand, there are clear differences in work-life balance indicators:
- Average hours worked per week: Malaysians work around 45 hours, while New Zealanders average fewer hours.
- Happiness index: Interestingly, Malaysia holds up relatively well in terms of happiness, despite the work-related gaps.
- Hourly wage: Malaysia averages USD 1.86 per hour, compared to USD 16.42 in New Zealand.
- Annual leave: Malaysia generally offers 19 days, while New Zealand provides 32 days.
Why it matters
Better work-life balance is about more than just having more holidays or scoring higher on happiness rankings. It supports mental health, boosts productivity and job satisfaction, and also strengthens family relationships. Ultimately, it even contributes to a longer life expectance, as you’d expect.
