New hirings into part-time: Potential benefits for both firms and workers

Abstract

"Part-time work is widespread in Germany - especially among women and in the service sector. This report focuses on hirings into part-time work, presenting results from 2012's wave of the German Job Vacancy Survey. Hirings into part-time positions differ greatly from hirings into full-time positions. Employers report finding it easier to fill positions with part-time workers, especially if those hired are well-qualified. Both employers and workers can benefit from part-time work. Employers can adjust working hours more flexibly while employees can improve their family-work balance. In particular, part-time work presents a welcome opportunity for well-qualified women (re-) entering the labour market. On the flip-side, part-time hirings are more likely to occur under fixed-term contracts and are more likely to affect over-qualified applicants. Nevertheless, they can serve as a bridge from unemployment into employment, especially if working time can be successively increased over time. Employers can support this process by adopting family-oriented personnel policies." (Authors' abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Brenzel, H., Eglmaier, A., Kubis, A., Moczall, A., Wanger, S. & Woitschig, C. (2013): Neueinstellungen in Teilzeit: Betriebe wie Beschäftigte können profitieren. (IAB-Kurzbericht 19/2013), Nürnberg, 8 p.