Work-life balance considerations are critical for senior executives in their decision whether to join, or remain, with an employer a study by the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC) has found.

It revealed 53% of executives have not achieved a satisfactory work-life balance, 46% said their work-life balance has changed for the worse in the past five years, and 59% indicated that new technology such as mobiles and the BlackBerry had negatively impacted their leisure time.

More than 50% said they would strongly consider refusing a promotion if it negatively affected their work-life balance.

“This should be a wake-up call to every employer. The value gap between executives and employers is widening,” said Peter Felix, president of AESC.