Part-time work seen as career limiting

Around 70 per cent of part-time workers in New Zealand are women. Photo/Thinkstock.

Negative attitudes and perceptions of discrimination against part-time employees remain strong despite nearly half a million Kiwis now working fewer than 30 hours a week.

Research by online job search firm Seek found one in three part-time workers has felt discriminated against for not working a full week while half of all full-time workers believe part-timers are discriminated against.

When asked why they might be judged unfairly 30 per cent of part-timers thought it was because they weren't perceived to be as readily available as their full-time colleagues.

A further 25 per cent thought it was down to a perception that they weren't as committed to their company or work and another 25 per cent put it down to a perceived disconnection with the rest of the team.

Full-time staff held even stronger views over discrimination against part-time workers with close to half of them believing poor perception was down to part-timers not being as readily available, 42 per cent linking it to a disconnect to the rest of the team and 40 per cent believing if a person was not seen in the office they were not working.

A majority (58 per cent) of both full and part-time workers saw part-time work as career limiting.

But Pip Cavanagh managing director of Cavanagh & Associates which helps recruit office support staff doesn't agree.

"It [working part-time] doesn't limit people's careers, if anything it enhances it," she said.

Cavanagh said it was far better for people to keep working part-time than to take five years out of the workforce and fall behind in technology and legislative changes.

"Things change so quickly in a couple of years."

Around 70 per cent of all part-timers are female with the vast majority (78 per cent) earning less than $30,000 a year.

While $30,000 seemed low, a part-time person typically worked around 20 hours a week or less which meant it would be equivalent to a $60,000 salary if a person worked full time.

They can't justify a full-time person but can justify a part-timer because the business is growing.

Pip Cavanagh

The average salary is New Zealand is around $45,000.

Cavanagh said over the last three to five years hourly rates had come up for part-timers in her field and in her experience employers wanted the same quality and competence in part-timers as they had in other staff.

She had also seen a spike up in newly created part-time jobs in the last 12 to 18 months and put that down to a lot of companies being at capacity and needing to take on extra staff to handle it.

"They can't justify a full-time person but can justify a part-timer because the business is growing."

Cavanagh said the issue of availability should be made clear by the employer to help clear up the perception of whether a part-timer was on-call even when not in the office.

She said those who were committed to a job would likely keep abreast of emails even if they were not there and technology was helping people to overcome that issue.

"It's about people also managing others' expectations.

"Unfortunately the issue is now it doesn't matter if you are working full or part-time people expect a response."

Seek's New Zealand chief Janet Faulding said it undertook the research to help employers understand and address the perceptions around part-time workers.

"We believe these insights will be very helpful to human resource professionals and managers to understand the dynamics that play out for people in different role types, and how they can create an environment that supports their career.

"We also think it's important to highlight the feelings and perceptions of employees, as it can help others to understand they're "not alone" in how they are experiencing their workplace."

How to get the most out of being a part-timer

• Be clear about what you want to achieve in your role aligning it to the goals of the business with a clear focus, and clarity around how you're contributing to the business it makes it easier to communicate and demonstrate the value you bring to the team. It also shows that you're there to make a difference, and take your role seriously

• Be realistic rather than try and maintain the workload or responsibility you had when working full-time, think about what are the most business critical, or value-adding projects, or daily activities you can manage within the reduced working hours, and commit to doing that well. Too often part-time employees set unrealistic expectations as to what they can achieve in their time at work, and spread themselves too thin and get disappointed at their performance at work. It's a case of doing less, better.

• Regular discussions with your manager keep in close contact with your manager about what you're delivering, and check that it's adding value to the business. Things can move quickly now days, and if you're not in the office everyday it's easy to slip out of what is the focus for the business. Check in regularly and don't be afraid to adjust your role and responsibilities to match the business needs.
source: Seek.