Gendered dilemmas of the work‐life balance in Hungary

Purpose The aim of this paper is to examine the gendered nature of work‐life policies in and the work‐life conflicts of managers in a multinational corporation in Hungary. Design/methodology/approach The research is based on 30 qualitative interviews with male and female managers at junior, middle and senior management levels located in Unilevers Eastern European headquarters in Budapest. Findings The results show that while legislative measures for family‐leave related policies are being encouraged in the EU, this is not the case with employer organizations in transition states, yet this is an important aspect of gender and employment policy as accession states begin to redesign their programmes to fall in line with EU guidelines. The research reveals that attempts to introduce family‐friendly policies still create gendered effects and gendered dilemmas for individual managers. The results reveal that men and women have different perceptions of work‐life balance and adopt different coping strategies to manage work and family commitments. Overall it is found that work‐life balance is constructed as an individual, rather than a corporate responsibility and this also creates gendered inequalities. Research limitations/implications The study focuses on one organisation in a transition context and so results cannot be generalised. Originality/value The paper aims to contribute to the limited knowledge that currently exists on work‐life initiatives in a transition context and attempts to clarify how gender equality measures can be understood and further developed within the Hungarian context.