Bupa chief says work-life balance concerns may point to wrong job

Bupa chief executive Iñaki Ereño has joined a group of high-profile leaders arguing that a strong desire for work-life balance can signal a poor fit with the job. His comments matter because Fortune reported that millennial and Gen Z workers continue to rank balance as their top workplace priority.

Ereño told Fortune that when people begin focusing on the balance of their lives, it suggests a problem with how they feel about their work. In his view, people who enjoy their jobs should not need a firm wall between work and the rest of life.

The 61-year-old runs Bupa, a Fortune 500 Europe health care company that Fortune described as generating £16.9 billion, or about $23 billion, in annual revenue. The company has more than 100,000 employees and serves more than 60 million customers worldwide, according to Fortune.

Ereño said he enjoys thinking about the business on weekends, including handling emails and reading papers, and does not experience that as undue pressure. He told Fortune his advice for people who spend the week waiting for the weekend is to consider what they like doing and avoid staying in work they dislike.

A demanding daily schedule

Fortune reported that Ereño starts most mornings at about 6:30 a.m. with black coffee and six newspapers on his iPad, split between English and Spanish publications. He then takes the Tube to Bupa’s London office.

His meetings typically begin at 8 a.m. and run back-to-back until about 6 p.m., according to Fortune. After that, Ereño spends time reflecting on the day and answering some emails before leaving the office.

He told Fortune he walks home for about 50 minutes, a habit he first used as a way to decompress and later made part of his routine. Away from the office, he trains six days a week: four days lifting weights and two days on a treadmill.

Ereño often works out with his 23-year-old son, who Fortune reported also acts as his personal trainer. He said he sometimes talks through work issues with his son during those sessions.

Ereño told Fortune that this structure is necessary for leading a company of Bupa’s scale. He said his decisions affect many people, and that staying grounded, exercising and keeping a stable life help him lead under pressure.

Other leaders have made similar arguments

Fortune linked Ereño’s view to comments from several executives and public figures who have questioned work-life balance as a goal for ambitious careers. Scale AI billionaire Lucy Guo told Fortune she works from 5:30 a.m. until midnight and suggested that people who feel they need balance may be in the wrong line of work.

Musician and AI entrepreneur Will.i.am told Fortune that work-life balance applies to people building someone else’s dream, and said he has worked through birthdays for years. LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman has said workers who seek balance are not committed to winning, according to Fortune, while allowing family dinner as an exception during his time running the company.

Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang has said he works seven days a week from waking until sleep and thinks about work when he is not working, Fortune reported. Former President Barack Obama said on The Pivot Podcast that excellence in fields such as sports, music, business and politics can require periods of being out of balance; Fortune reported that he said he went roughly a year and a half without proper weekends during his presidential run.

Palantir chief executive Alex Karp also told Fortune he had not met a very successful person with a great social life at age 20. Like Ereño, he framed the trade-off around choosing work that fits a person’s talents and interests.

This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.