A brighter future: Part time jobs
Let’s imagine if part time jobs were ubiquitous. If most people worked 5 hours a day for their employers, made the money they needed to survive, and then spent another 3 hours a day on other things.
Disclaimer: I know this is not possible for many wages and communities, with working class families struggling to put food on the table, but let’s just assume a fairer world may exist where this is a possibility for everyone.
I wonder what they would spend this extra time on.
#1. Making dinner and spending time with their families.
#2. Learning new and different things, re-train and start a new career.
#3. Working another part time job or volunteering.
#4. Watching Netflix and updating Facebook
I haven’t done the official survey on this one but my hypothesis is that it is somewhat evenly distributed across, with a slight bent toward Netflix.
However, in this crazy world we live in, perhaps it’s time to trial the craziness of allowing people more options than whole integers of jobs.
0.5 and 0.75 jobs may allow for more benefit than we think.
Part time jobs, like working from home, could help to realise the freedoms to work flexibly.
Rather than binge watching our nights away, we could help make a meaningful shift in our world.
I believe part time jobs could be a leverage point of huge gains in many areas that need improvement, including women’s empowerment, mental health, climate change, and sustainable business models, offering a holistic positive change for society.
So I find myself imagining…what would actually happen if more businesses start to scope out and promote part-time roles? If I logged into SEEK, and by typing in ‘part time role’, more than 3 office assistant roles came up?
If there were part-time developers and part-time engineers and scientists, part-time product managers, or corporate executives? If we underwent a system-wide transformation that encouraged and supported part-time labour as a significant category of the work force?
At this point, it seems a far fetched dream. One of the moms at my kid’s school calls that a unicorn..a job you like that pays well and only requires 30 hours a week.
I would call it a future state of work in a sustainable society.
Businesses
Businesses are often hesitant to have more people in their books, to have to provide benefits for, or to carry overheads for part time staff. Most seem reluctant to allow part time status or job sharing without being arm-twisted by the possible loss of a valuable employee who needs more time outside work.
I would propose that there are many hidden benefits for a business or organisation considering this going forward.
The benefits of having more people in the organisation? A more diverse work force, increased productivity, a larger knowledge base, and an in-built mechanism for growth.
Employees could be less stressed, fatigued, and likely happier.
Companies may retain staff for longer and reduce the risk of losing critical staff due to sickness, family issues, parent needs, and mental health issues.
Individually, it means a transformation in work culture, a more engaging and better lifestyle for many. It allows more time to live conscientiously. To walk or ride a bike to work. To think. To plan.
Women
More part-time roles would support women better. With high childcare expenses, many families must choose whether a parent must look after their children or go back to work. Often that falls to the mum. Just look at the Covid-19 pandemics effect on women leaving the workplace to see the impact of a disportionate effect of this in play.
If either mums or dad had the option to go part-time, I believe there would be a game changer for these families, and for the women that bear the majority of these challenges. See below graph for percentage of women who are part-time, and the comparative number of men (data for the public sector) which has also fallen significantly in the past 10 years.
I don’t see how society or employers can really expect to be equitable toward women with children without offering part-time jobs. The more part-time jobs there are out there, the better it is going to be for women to remain in their careers, earning money, and establishing more equality at home and in society.
New Zealand families
With 2.0 jobs and both parents working full time, children often have nannies or go into after-school care. The other option is to go on 1.0 incomes which means scraping by especially in cities where property prices are driving high costs of living. The option of 1.5 incomes would be much more sustainable for many. Men would feel less pressured and burdened by the jobs they have.
In addition to the above, children would likely achieve beneficial connections with their families and derive better outcomes.
If one person can go part time, they can pickup their child from school or daycare more readily and take sick leave more easily.
And financially, it also makes better sense.
In New Zealand, the first tax bracket of 15% tops out at $50,000 a year. Unlike the US, they don’t allow family tax returns to be distributed, so a parent earning $100,000 for the family means the family are taxed around $30,000, or $15,000 more than if both parents earned $50,000 each.
That is another incentive to work part time, an extra $15,000 to keep for middle income families. That and both people have more time for themselves to go to the doctor, do life admin, and watch their kids grow up.
Climate Venture
If someone has a part time role and is able to survive, they may also spend tim on an impact venture. This is a contributing reason to why I promote this idea, as I am hoping some of these part-timers do this:
#5. Spend time on a new side hustle to solve a climate-related challenge.
Of course I snuck that in there! It’s what I am about…getting people revved up onto real problems.
Not focusing on the ‘How do I make this company’s share price go up 5 points’, but ‘How do I keep everyone on earth engaged in preventing others living a sad and tragic life fraught with climate-related despair?’
There are those out there that believe a venture must be an all-in game, but I actually believe in the benefits of ‘hybrid entrepreneurship’ as per this article:
https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/should-you-quit-your-day-job-study-says-no.html
This is partly going to involve a bit of compromise and yes even sacrifice for some. But it may be well worth it for others. I live in a modest rental and drive an older vehicle. I have a low burn rate in order to dedicate resources to other projects and investments. One of those is to develop impact.
A part time job and a side hustle to me is like coffee and a muffin. They go excellent together and generally make for a less stressful morning.
If a large percentage of the workforce applies itself to meaningful problem solving, what kind of world could we become? And what’s the harm in trying?
Climate Mindset
Extra time allows people to re-train, to become mindful, to invest, to organise, to plan and manage things better.
Even without activist-level input, the climate would be helped by people being less busy, spending more time managing their waste, and having more time to bike to work or ride public transport.
Additionally, it could help to transform the economy, and make meaningful progress for as better and more sustainable future. As we saw during the pandemic, working from home and work flexibility means less congested roads and people taking more walks, eating healthier and being better people. It’s not too far off from where we are, and where we are heading.
Students and Retirees
Traditionally part time roles for students are common in universities. It encourages students in their new fields, and there are groups that help support this.
There are not enough programs that encourage near retirees to share their knowledge.
This knowledge transfer is critical in fields like engineering. The older generation have a lot of experience but often have to choose between their health and retirement. If companies don’t readily offer employees this option they will likely end up losing their staff earlier.
And for those approaching retirement age, stepping down a gear in work can be a better more gradual transition rather than a shock to the system.
Status Quo
New Zealand’s part timers currently comprises around 20% (2020) of the total work force per https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/our-work/workforce-data/part-time-employees/
Here’s a graph showing the breakdown by occupation in the public sector.
You may notice there is a declining tread in the number of part time staff over the past 10 years. Why this is happening could be related to many factors but shows how as a trend, work-life balances are being reduced.
Criticisms
Often with reduced hours comes reduced pay. Some articles I read from the US criticise part time work and believe it is a type of hidden unemployment. They think employers could exploit people by using part time status to deny them benefits like health care, holiday pay, and retirement funds.
I woul say the gig economy has already done this for many years. A lot of people live with that and have adjusted for it. Contractors are still a minority sure. But without the ability to reduce employee costs, some companies opt to outsource the work. And there will always be the case for full-time employment. What I’m advocating is to add-in a case for part-time employment.
I tried to find citations and scientific papers with evidence supporting part-time roles, but in truth theres relatively few studies.
(Except in the Netherlands which seems always to be progressively one step ahead.)
What I am proposing is to try something new for the rest of us. For business leaders to consider 50% of their work force being part time. For governments to create programs to support part-time workers. For citizens to think of how they could make it work.
Next steps
Many of the arguments for a universal basic income may also apply here.
Perhaps this is a way for the government to trial a more equitable society prior to shifting entirely toward this revolutionary idea. If the government considered implementing a universal basic income, that would be truly amazing. A perfect storm of economic socialism. I will wait for Bernie Sanders and Chloe Swarbrick-endorsed TOP candidate to make that happen one day. Until then we could give this a go.
For more info on job sharing and how it could and should be done.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/agnesuhereczky/2019/07/02/are-you-missing-out-on-the-latest-workplace-revolution-the-untapped-potential-of-job-sharing/
https://www.inc.com/magazine/201808/coeli-carr/finding-part-time-help-employees.html
