To think you can’t really get a decent PT job unless you already work there

[Metoodear]

So following on from my post about working PT I getting loads of people saying yep rally easy to woke pt I get 30, 40k pro rata blah blah however these are often women who have worked for a company for a number of years then reduced after maternity leave i am also not talking about PT were you drop one day but are still working 9-5 four days a week

This kind of PT working is not what I was talking about I am talking about after having done a qualification then after having 2-5 years out of work after being a SHAM trying to find a PT job that is under 25 hours a week that is not in a school admin or retail in a company you never worked for
i am a support worker but have had to take a job at the lower end of the pay scale in order to secure 20 hours a week working i have friends that have degrees in physiology ect who work in admin and a friend who has a degree in a second language but is really struggling to find anything other than admin or work in a school for less than 25 hours after being at home for8 years

I myself have been looking for another job since I got my curroone and you just don’t see PT ones

The unfortunate reality is one of supply and demand. For every person who can do the job part time, there are probably 5 times as many that can do full time. Even if a role is part time, the employer still needs the full position to be full time, so then has to find someone else to fill the remaining hours. Which isn't always easy, especially if the remaining hours are weekdays 2-5! The unfortunate reality is that part time working does not suit employers.

My job is part time and is available as part time to new applicants. It's a control room though, so I guess would be considered similar to call centre and probably doesn't need qualifications. It is comparatively well paid compared to other part time positions.

I agree it's very very hard. I'm at the end of maternity leave with a job I can't return to. I'm looking at having to cobble together 3 part time jobs a Few days/ hours each to make up a Decent living. It's shit.

There’s absolutely no regard to work/life balance with most jobs.

I have been working part-time in teaching since DC1 was born 8 years ago. At the time I went from full-time to part-time at my existing workplace, but it was relatively easy to find part-time jobs offered. I've noticed fewer and fewer of them being advertised more recently, despite the DfE saying that increases in job-sharing could help the recruitment issues in teaching.

It feels like across most sectors there has been a general shift against part-time working alongside a rise in "presenteeism". It certainly makes life harder for working families.

I think that is true to a certain extent, but it depends what you do, and the circumstances. I was able to get a new job part time about a year ago, it was a full time post but I asked it it could be part time for the right applicant. I’m a teacher and I teach in a shortage subject, and it was the time of year when it was hardest to recruit, so they were very positive. But luck played a part too - part time worked better with their staffing as someone else wanted to change their hours.

@Lazypuppy nurse and earns the bigger wage and have a mortgage to pay I would only ever earn 27k at the top of my profession his earning potential would be up to 70k if he got into commissiong ect he dosent earn that much btw
But in most families the lower earner takes the hit so to speak and that’s me

Also both of my children are adopted experienced trauma and abuse and the older one just can’t tolrate after school club at she cannot manage multiple care givers

And the younger is with a childminder so fuck knows how much that would cost

I know someone who applied to her work to go part time. She was given it but they simply couldn’t understand why she’d want it as she has no children or any caring responsibilities. It was like they couldn’t get why a mid-40s professional with no responsibilities or financial problems might want to have a bit more time to herself. But in Denmark no-one would bag an eyelid.

It’s one of those things, like school uniform and homework, that Britain can’t get it’s head around not doing, even though it’s proven to work.

@RiverTam that was how i was brought up which is maybe why i don't see an issue with it.

I would never expect to walk into a 'qualified' job PT. I wouldn't want to either as would find it hard to pick it all up as you would miss so much on the days you're not there.

@Metoodear talk about a drip feed!

I agree that businesses are only going to offer pt if it suits them but I think its more that businesses lack the know how to make it work and aren't interested in making it work rather than it not working.

You have a point OP: I think it’s really hard to walk straight into decent pt work from
Nothing. And sometimes even though you can reduce hours, the more interesting higher status roles tend to be ft.

However I do think the reality is that for the longer term gains you do sometimes have to make painful investments! Eg i would really guard against giving up work completely; I would always return after ML
Even if just in pt hours. I did 3 days a week right through having our 3 children (even though by dc3 all my salary went on childcare.) I think it’s much harder to get a foot back in the door if you stop work completely.

Also, you tend to find if women stop work completely, then they tend to only consider pt hours once the kids are in school and they want to work again. I can imagine going from being at home straight to full time feels like a massive step.

Slightly off topic (though related) but the other thing to factor in is that pt hours means ‘pt pension’ - it’s significantly reduced. I went back up to ft once my youngest was 4 and I’m mightily relieved I did. Even those few years pt have affected my pension to a degree.

So yanbu to think that it’s hard to get decent pt work, and your best bet is to work ft for a while before considering reducing, but also be aware of the long term impact of pt. Pensions all seem a bit irrelevant when you’re in your 30s and 40s but it’s a whole different ball game when you get to 50 plus. I’m an active, healthy 50 plus but my goodness I’m beginning to feel the strain now and no way could contemplate working til late 60s.

I used to be a solicitor. I hated the job I had when I got pregnant with DC1 so I applied for new roles when on maternity leave and got several offers, all of which were willing to let me work 4 days a week from the off. They had all been advertised as full time. Generally 4 days is easier to get than 3 as they just get you to do the same amount of work for 20% less pay...
I have now retrained in a civil service role and work 3 days BUT to get here I have worked FT and done exams for 4 years.
If you take as a PP said 2-5 years out of the workplace to be a SAHM, or you have kids early on in your career, then yes of course you will find it harder to get a flexible part time professional role: all the women who continued to work and gain experience and build goodwill with their employers are getting those jobs! Deciding to take several years out of work will put you at a disadvantage. That issue should factor into the decision to continue in work or stay at home.

No shit Sherlock.

Taking time out of the workplace and only being available for a few set hours with no flexibility... makes it hard to get a job.

that was how i was brought up which is maybe why i don't see an issue with it.

I was bought up with a SAHM/PT working mum and having had that there’s no way I would not do the same for my kids. Seems pointless to have them for someone else!

Maybe we all prefer what we are used to.

Not to mention that it costs more to employ two half time workers than one full time worker

It's a few years out of date, so I don't know if it's still the case, but I remember reading this article www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2015/05/11/why-so-many-dutch-people-work-part-time about part-time working in the Netherlands and thinking the Dutch sounded like they had it about right.

I agree with the points too about flexibility. There’s a big difference between someone not wanting to work full time hours but being prepared to compromise, and someone who says ‘I want at least 16 hours but no more than 20, I don’t want to start til 9 so I can do school drop off every day oh and I definitely don’t want to work Fridays in case we want a long weekend away.’

Yes, I really have come across job candidates who say pretty much that.

@BlairWaldorfsHeadband because i'll still have a good amount of time with her when i finish work as i work 7:30-3:30, or 8-4 normally.

I got myself into sa good job, with some flexibility ready to then have a baby.

As a pp said, i don't want a pt pension, i want the best pension i can get so i don't have to stress when i'm older.

Also, i don't care how much my partner earned, either we both reduce hrs etc, or neither of us do. I certainly wouldn't take such a long term financial hit

Lazypuppy

@Metoodear talk about a drip feed!
*why have I drip feed it’s very obvious to me only three reasons why people can’t work full time childcare either they have 3+children or they don’t want their child being look after by others for hours or they have a child that won’t tolerate childcare
Oh also some schools just don’t offer it or have limited places *

My friend had to quit her job after 3 years she was off with chicken pox caught from her son missed the deadline and when she went in the following Monday the AC had been booked up for the whole year

@Metoodear
**Also both of my children are adopted experienced trauma and abuse and the older one just can’t tolrate after school club at she cannot manage multiple care givers

There's a difference between 'can't' work full time and 'don't' want to work FT. Your situation fits more into can't.

Like @Momo27 said i have also come across so many candidates when interviewing like they have described. At the end of the day, companies want people eho want to work for their company, not just causr the hours suit.

LazyPuppy I can see why that works for you but it’s not what I would want for mine, so I don’t think it’s unreasonable that some of us with kids want part time hours.

Plus it’s depressing people have to spend their youth working for a pension that they’ll be too old and ill to use anyway. The U.K. has it wrong.

I was working full time in my nhs job and went back to it 3 days/week. Then I left to start a new job, also NHS but a higher banding, at 2.5/days a week so 18.75hrs. It's well paid and my hours and flexible. Lots of people in my field work part time. It just depends what profession you work in.

*went back to it after mat leave

YABU in that there are employers and sectors where this isn't the case. Fuck all use to you if your career and qualifications aren't in one of them though! So for example the poster in the other thread was completely right about there being lots of quite senior part time work in the charity sector. It's a funding thing. But if someone is a chartered surveyor, that example probably doesn't help them much.

There definitely seem to be sectors and companies where this just isn't done, and that's a shame. I accept that some jobs have to be full time, but that number is likely lower than the number of jobs that are advertised as full time.

It's also the case that some people wanting/needing part time have quite specific requirements and part time can mean a lot of things. If you need school hours only, then 2 or 3 full days a week isn't going to be an option for you. The role upthread 5 days a week 9.30 to 2.30, with a preschool child at home I wouldn't have even considered that but later on maybe etc. And some of the people after part time want school hours term time only, which is always going to be a struggle if you don't work in a school.