American workers are valuing their work-life balance more than ever after an intensive period of fully-remote working which showed swathes of the workforce that it was possible to get the job done, and manage their personal lives, too.

New research from car manufacturer Ford identified that 51% of U.S. workers would actually be willing to take a 20% pay cut in exchange for a better quality of life. Younger workers are even more on board, with 60% of millennials and 56% of Gen Z saying they'd accept less money for a better work-life balance.

Workers are in a quandary, however. Americans want a better split between their jobs and the rest of their lives, but according to additional research, 54% of adults polled admitted to working while on vacation, with half saying they also feel guilty when they're on PTO.

Right now, according to the OECD's Better Life Index, the U.S. ranks 28th in the world when it comes to work-life balance, so something has to give to deliver U.S. employees the best of both worlds: a fulfilling career that leaves time for family, recreation and relaxation.

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That's not an impossible dream, according to new research from the Fullstack Academy, which examined Glassdoor reviews for over 100 of the most well-known tech companies in the U.S.

The study, Study: Work-Life Balance at Big Tech Companies, measured this by focusing on keywords that indicate either a good or poor work-life balance. It evaluated companies' work-life balance, and divided the rankings into five groupings based on the frequency of work-life balance keywords in the Glassdoor cons section, compared to the total number of reviews for each company.

Top work-life balance keywords in positive Glassdoor reviews included: flexibility, remote, work from home, WFH, PTO, time off, flexible hours, and flexible schedule. The most frequently mentioned keywords in the pros section are "flexibility," "remote," and "work from home."

It isn't all positive however, with the report finding significant disparities among high-profile tech companies in the U.S.. According to its analysis, while some companies truly excel at promoting a healthy work-life balance, others need to do better.

Overall, only 40% of big tech companies have a good or very good work-life balance. Fullstack Academy worked this out by looking for keywords such as "burn out". This term appeared 73% more frequently in the cons section of Glassdoor reviews than wellness keywords such as "well-being" in the pros section.

So which of the big tech firms make the grade?

NetApp, Cisco, and Spotify have the best work-life balance according to the study, with Oracle and Adobe scoring as "very good" for work-life balance. Microsoft and IBM rank as "good", and Salesforce and Google rate as "average".

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Adobe, Oracle, and Microsoft score well for mentions of "PTO," "flexible hours," and "hybrid" in the Glassdoor reviews pros section.

Adobe, Cisco, and Oracle are also among the most profitable Fortune 500 tech companies with very good work-life balance ratings. Glassdoor reviewers frequently mention "remote," "health," and "family" in the pros section for these companies.

One concern many companies have around improved flexibility is poorer productivity. But the study indicates that this isn't an issue, as Microsoft, the most profitable Fortune 500 company, has a good work-life balance. In a competitive labor market where specialization and skills are highly valued, these companies actually improve their chances of attracting top talent by maintaining a positive work-life balance.

If you're one of the 51% of U.S. workers in the Ford Study who are yearning for better balance, then the answer may well lie in a switch to a large tech firm where worker wellbeing is embedded.

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