Background: Social sustainability and work-life balance have become critical concerns in today’s workforce, particularly as increasing pressures and workloads impact employee well-being negatively. Focusing on the challenges of navigating high expectations and the flexibility of hybrid environments, this research explores how these factors influence work-life balance, considering the unique position of middle managers who balance demands from supervisors and subordinates.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to deepen the academic understanding of how hybrid work environments influence work-life balance among middle managers within the management consulting industry. The research question is: how does hybrid work affect middle managers’ work-life balance in management consulting firms?

Methodology: This study uses an exploratory approach, as we are investigating a topic that is not researched before. An inductive reasoning approach was used to conclude specific experiences. It uses a qualitative method, namely interviews with 15 middle managers at various management consulting firms in Sweden. We have used a thematic analysis to find common themes in our results.

Results: Our results show that middle managers find themselves in a trapped position, between upper management and junior staff, but it is not detrimental to their work-life balance. Hybrid work impairs communication with colleagues but does not significantly impact their work-life balance. Additionally, a large majority value flexibility as a part of hybrid work, which to them is a crucial factor for their work-life balance.

Conclusion: A prerequisite for hybrid work is freedom with responsibility that the middle managers are given, which is closely related to flexibility. This high level of flexibility is crucial for their work-life balance. However, a challenge with hybrid work is to establish boundaries, so that spillover does not happen, particularly from work to personal life. Moreover, we found that some middle managers divide personal life into two distinguished parts: leisure time and family, as opposed to traditional work-life balance theories.