Sustainable management of stress, work–life balance and well-being in the vocational education and training sector

The vocational education and training (VET) sector is central to the UK government’s skills development plan to spur economic growth. This article explores patterns among important issues of work stress, work–life balance (WLB) and well-being in the UK’s VET sector. It considers the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal of Good Health and Well-being (SDG 3) to promote safe, healthy physical and psycho-social workplaces by 2030. The article conceptualizes a preventative, systemic lens to health and well-being in order to advance an understanding of complex relationships among work stress, WLB and well-being. This article contributes a structural model to demonstrate the mediated association of WLB on the relationship between stress and well-being. It shows the value of a sustainable, long-term and preventative people management approach. The authors recommend a future interdisciplinary and systemic research agenda, including longitudinal research designs, towards achieving SDG 3, within an important sector to the economy.