Part-time bosses are in demand like never before

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Two top women, both part-time, have been co-managing the fortunes of the Lucerne family business since the summer of 2022, as evidenced by the Guetz-based company Hug: Anna Hug (49) and Marianne Wüthrich (55). Both work at 70 percent and share their duties: Hug heads the market area, Wüthrich heads production.

Assistant bosses are in good company. The proportion of people working in part-time jobs has been increasing over the years. And also on the executive floor.

This shows an evaluation of the x28. The Swiss recruiting firm analyzed how many job postings were posted for part-time management positions and how that value had changed over the years.

The result: Nearly a third of all executive jobs advertised online in 2022 could be done part-time. Ten years ago it was 7.6 percent.

Part time is not always part time

But do a third of all newly hired managers really work part-time? Daniel Kopp (37) from the ETH Zurich Center for Economic Research (KOF): “The fact that positions are posted part-time does not automatically mean that they will be filled part-time.” But Kopp continues: “The trend must be right.”

According to the labor market expert, companies are more flexible today. “The trend towards more part-time work was already there, but intensified due to a shortage of skilled workers.” The reason: Employees have an edge in many industries. Statistics also show that many executive positions can be held on a part-time basis. “There seems to be a slow rethinking.”

According to Kopp, this trend also has advantages for companies. “You don’t have to search that long and you can benefit from a larger pool of candidates.” A new KOF study confirms that there are fewer vacancies advertised if part-time work is planned.

Ines Hartmann (40) knows from experience that companies advertise part-time management positions. st. Gallen University’s Competence Center for Diversity and Inclusion, says: “It’s not how many part-time positions companies advertise, it’s how they fill the positions that matters.” And here the numbers speak a different language. “Many jobs advertised at 80 to 100 percent are filled full time.”

Part-time jobs are still rare, especially at the top two levels of the hierarchy. Hartmann: “In these positions, 91 percent of men work full time, compared to 78 percent of women.” This is St. John’s, for which Hartmann is jointly responsible. Gallen University’s Gender Intelligence Report.

According to the report, 88 percent of men and 71 percent of women still work full-time at the top four hierarchical levels. “Part-time work is more likely to be found at lower levels of management, such as in a team leader position,” says Hartmann.

cultural problems

But what explains the gap between what companies advertise and real-time reality?

On the one hand, Hartmann cites “cultural reasons”: “The position that was 100 percent worked before is often refilled with this workload.” Also, if someone worked 80 percent instead of 100 percent, they wouldn’t think about what tasks would go away.

But there are also structural reasons, according to Hartmann: “If a company is calculating the budget by percentage of jobs, there is no incentive to advertise an 80 percent position – because you can’t get 20 percent back.”

Such questions do not arise at the Hug biscuit company. In January, Anna Hug and Marianne Wüthrich were able to announce a strong sales increase – they are convinced of the advantages of part-time co-management. Hug said recently on “Schweizer Illustrierte” that they don’t always agree. “But we think together and develop better solutions together.”

Source :Blick