Something fundamental is shifting in how Americans think about work. According to Randstad's latest Workmonitor report, work-life balance has officially dethroned pay as the number one factor workers consider when evaluating a job. It's the first time this has happened since the firm started tracking employment trends 22 years ago.

The margin isn't huge — 83% of workers now rank balance as their top priority — but it's enough to edge out both job security and compensation. Translation: people want jobs that fit around their lives, not lives that bend around their jobs.

Of course, not everyone's thrilled about this. While many workers see the change as overdue, some prominent CEOs argue that big ambitions and reasonable hours simply don't mix.

The New Normal Isn't Just About Millennials

Gen Z gets a lot of attention for challenging workplace norms, and the data backs it up. Among younger workers, 74% list work-life balance as a top consideration, compared to just 68% who prioritize pay. Mental health support often ranks higher than compensation for this group.

Flexibility matters too. A LinkedIn report found that roughly 38% of Gen Z and millennial workers would accept lower pay in exchange for remote or hybrid work arrangements.

But here's the thing: this isn't just a generational quirk. Baby boomers also rate work-life balance highly, with 85% calling it a top priority alongside pay at 87%. The desire for sustainable work schedules crosses age groups, which suggests this shift has staying power.

Workers are also getting pickier about who they work for. Nearly half say they wouldn't take a job at a company whose social or environmental values clash with their own — a sharp jump from 38% last year. And 31% have already quit jobs due to limited career advancement opportunities.

Two Very Different Visions of Success

Executives aren't exactly unanimous on whether balance and high achievement can coexist.

Netflix (NFLX) co-founder Marc Randolph is firmly in the balance camp. Throughout his career, he protected Tuesday nights from work — no meetings, no emergency calls, nothing. "Those Tuesday nights kept me sane. And they put the rest of my work in perspective," he wrote on LinkedIn.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon has echoed similar themes, telling students at Georgetown's Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy that safeguarding mental, physical, and spiritual health is critical for long-term success.

But other leaders in tech aren't buying it. Google co-founder Sergey Brin and Scale AI co-founder Lucy Guo have both pushed back against the standard 9-to-5 mindset, according to Fortune.

Andrew Feldman, CEO of AI chipmaker Cerebras, was particularly blunt on the "20VC" podcast: "This notion that somehow you can achieve greatness, you can build something extraordinary by working 38 hours a week and having work-life balance — that is mind-boggling to me. It's not true in any part of life."

What This Means for Companies

The disconnect between what workers want and what some executives believe is sustainable creates a real challenge for employers. Workers today aren't just evaluating salary — they're weighing values, flexibility, mental health support, and whether a job lets them have a life outside the office.

And they're willing to walk. With talent shortages hitting multiple industries and employees increasingly comfortable leaving roles that don't meet their expectations, companies may find that supporting work-life balance isn't just nice to have. It's a competitive necessity.

The Randstad data suggests this isn't a passing trend. After two decades of pay sitting comfortably at the top of workers' priority lists, balance has finally taken the lead. Whether CEOs find it mind-boggling or not, they're going to have to reckon with it.