More and more CEOs are leaving their post, including six who died on the job in the first half of 2024, increasing the clamor for more work-life balance.

As of June 2024, 1,101 CEOs in the United States have left their post, the highest year-to-date total on record, The figure is also an increase of 21% compared to June 2023, according to outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray, and Christmas Inc. The trend is consistent with the results for the whole year of 2023, which saw a 55% rise in CEO exits at 1,914—the highest recorded figure since the firm started its report in 2002.

The report also reveals that for the first half of 2024, six CEOs have died on the job, while 19 CEOs passed away while in office in 2023.

“In 2023, more CEOs died in office than in any year since 2010,” observed global consulting firm Korin Ferry in a report. “The number leaving for personal reasons doubled”, it added.

The consulting firm believes that, despite not being expressly stated, personal reasons usually point to health concerns, while the high number of CEO exits reflect the amount of stress CEOs experience.

In 2024, of the 1,101 CEOs who left, 28% did not disclose their reason, while 25.6% opted to shift to a slower-paced advisory or board member role in the same company, possibly indicating a longing for more work-life balance.

CEOs Opting for Remote Work

This desire for a more well-rounded life was further affirmed by the recent high-profile CEO hires of Starbucks and Victoria’s Secret, who both opted to work remotely.

Victoria’s Secret’s new CEO Hillary Super is staying in New York City, hundreds of miles away from the company’s headquarters in Ohio, while newly appointed Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol will stay with his family in Newport Beach, California, instead of moving to Starbucks’ headquarters in Seattle, Washington.

But while this may be a sign of a new trend among CEOs, some observers say, it could develop resentment among their employees, especially at a time when many are now being required to return to the office.

News outlets have created media headlines such as: “CEOs push RTO, yet work remotely” (Linkedin.com), “Remote work is becoming less available (if you’re not a CEO)” (Axios.com), “Employees are resentful of CEOs’ remote work privileges” (Fortune Magazine). The theme indicates a public impression of privilege and bias towards management versus the rest of the workforce.

“[There was] this notion of perceiving the CEO as really kind of enjoying his life… presumably, at the expense of the employees, shareholders,” Boston Univeristy professor Ran Duchin told Fortune Magazine.

“And it’s disheartening to see the CEO using the company’s jet to go back and forth between his beach house in Florida and the company’s headquarters.”

Expectedly, both Victoria’s Secret and Starbucks quickly gave assurances that the remote work concession would not affect the quality and amount of work their prized CEOs would deliver.

According to Fortune, Victoria’s Secret has explained that New York, where Super is based, is another one of the company’s headquarters where many of their executives are likewise based. Starbucks’ own spokesperson said that despite working from afar, Niccol will expectedly be putting in more hours either traveling or working from their support center than their hybrid employees who report to the office three times a week.

A 2021 study by Duchin further revealed that for companies with a global presence, working remotely did not matter, since their position required them to travel most of the time anyway.

“For globally dispersed firms with locations peppered across the world, it’s just not practical for a CEO to show up to headquarters every day—and it doesn’t impact performance,” the Fortune article citing Duchin’s study said.

“CEOs need to be at the work,” added Debbie Lovich of Boston Consulting Group. “But, by the way, that means a CEO should be in a manufacturing plant, a CEO should be out in the stores, a CEO should be on the tarmac. A CEO should be with their people where the work is happening.”

What is clear, though, is proximity to the family and reluctance to uproot them from their normal lives are the priorities for CEOs like Niccol. The CEO famously relocated Chipotle’s headquarters to Newport Beach, California, from Denver, when he took over the helm in 2018, despite Chipotle’s presence in Denver for the last 25 years.

Work-Life Balance

In a recently revived video interview with Niccol by Fortune while he was still CEO of Chipotle, Niccol shared how he tries to maintain work-life balance in his daily routine:

Despite being regarded as one of the most successful CEOs in his industry today for having dramatically turned around Chipotle’s earnings and reputation and increasing their stock’s value by almost 800%, Niccol’s schedule shows a healthy balance of work, family, and personal time.

It consists of waking up early and having private time in the morning, where he gets to enjoy his coffee and do daily exercise, and personally driving his younger daughter to school, before clocking in at work.

After work, he makes dinner with his wife, takes time to personally walk the family dog, before watching TV with the whole family.  Being in bed by 10 pm assures that the sought-after executive gets the mandated 8 hours of sleep.

“Seems solid,” commented a viewer, on a repost of his video interview on Instagram.

Now, all eyes are glued on Niccol and how he could replicate his previous success in Starbucks. If so, then he might just build a strong case for hybrid and remote work (leading to better work-life balance), that can hopefully apply to all.