Part-time on way out as Australians opt for ‘flexible work’ instead

Part-time work in the Australian workplace is slowly being superseded by flexible full-time arrangements, a new report has found.

The ninth Gender Equity Insight report, released on Monday, found this was being driven by women jumping from part-time work to more flexible arrangements.

More people are seeking flexible work arrangements over part-time work.

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency and Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre crunched data from 5377 organisations employing about 5 million Australians.

The proportion of women working part-time dropped 3.2 per cent to 29.7 per cent from 2017-2023.

Over that period the share of women in full-time jobs increased from 40.2 per cent to 42.5 per cent.

The number of men in full-time roles remained steady around 67 per cent.

But for all genders, full-time roles that offered flexible arrangements, such as remote and hybrid work, rose from 2.3 per cent to 42.5 per cent.

“We are seeing a systematic move away from part-time employment towards full-time positions that include flexible work entitlements,” the report said.

“This suggests that the traditional part-time work option is being gradually superseded by more fluid and adaptable work arrangements.”

The report authors said it was a call to action for employers to embrace the “evolution of part-time and flexible work”.

“As part-time work decreases, more people prefer additional flexible work options. This trend presents an opportunity for employers to make these arrangements standard without harming employee experiences,” report co-author Silvia Salazar said.

The report called on employers to normalise flexible and part-time work without penalties such as the “promotion cliff.”

The cliff was evident in the report, which found that promotion rates for both men and women working part-time were half those of their full-time counterparts.

“By normalising flexible arrangements, organisations can work towards removing the historical ‘flexibility stigma’ associated with career penalties in terms of pay and progression,” it said.

The report also suggested companies should reconsider jobs previously off-limits for flexible or part-time.

Agency director Mary Wooldridge said enabling more management roles to be undertaken part-time or flexibly would increase the talent pool available to employers and help reduce the gender pay gap.

“Crucially, this report finds that employers who conduct a gender pay gap analysis, set targets and implement a formal policy or strategy on flexible work have higher rates of women managers working part-time,” she said.

WA mining billionaire Chris Ellison ignited a debate about flexible and part-time working arrangements last month when he lamented the policy in a media call and said he wanted to hold “staff captive all day long”.

“I don’t want them leaving the building,” Ellison said.

“The industry cannot afford it. We can’t have people working three days a week and picking up five days’ a week pay – or four days’.”

Ellison’s company, Mineral Resources, has a no-work-from-home policy and a focus on onsite perks for employees to keep them at the office, including a gym, restaurant and cheap childcare.

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