Research shows increase in highly paid part-time jobs

There has been an increase in the number of part-time roles paying more than £40,000 a year, with a rise of 5.7 per cent in the past year, according to research from flexible working group Timewise.

The research found that over 770,000 people on a higher salary now work part-time and also showed that the traditional nine-to-five structure is changing as more businesses consider using job shares.

Popular

According to Timewise, more businesses in the UK are getting rid of the restrictive Monday-to-Friday, nine-to-five structure, with two out of five managers now considering taking on staff in senior roles as part of a job share.

A list drawn up by Timewise showed that several businesses are taking on part-time staff in senior roles or have staff that are already working as part of a job share, with the Ministry of Defence, Lloyds Banking Group and the Guardian being amongst the list of companies. 

Job shares have now become popular in the workplace following the launch of a list in 2012 of 50 men and women working in senior roles on a part-time basis. The list was launched to provide workers with role models for flexible working and to show that career progression is still possible when working part-time. This year, nine job shares have been included on the list, compared to no job shares when it was first launched.

Open-minded

Commenting on the findings, Timewise Co-Founder Karen Mattison said: “The dramatic increase in job shares offers us a glimpse into how jobs will be designed in the future.”

She added that all it requires is an employer who is open-minded, and who is willing to attempt something new to hire or keep the best workers.