Part-time workers face permanent ‘promotion cliff’

Part-time workers or those who need or want to take on part-time roles face a ‘promotion cliff’, new data shows.

Women are disproportionately affected by promotional opportunities being denied to part-time workers. Picture: iStock

Part-time workers or those who need or want to take on part-time roles face a “promotion cliff”, new data from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency shows.

Despite the hype around flexible work, the availability of part-time management roles has remained low, with just 7 per cent of managers in Australia working part-time, the WGEA’s 2022-23 employer census finds, up 1 per cent since 2018-19.

There are even fewer on the higher rungs of the corporate ladder, with 5 per cent of key management personnel and 3 per cent of chief executive officers in part-time roles.

“There is effectively a ‘promotion cliff’ for part-time workers in Australia,” WGEA chief executive Mary Wooldridge said. “Part-time workers who want to take up leadership roles in their workplace, or to make the change from full-time or casual work, face a sudden drop off in availability of management level jobs that could otherwise contribute to advancing or sustaining their career.”

Ms Wooldridge said the low numbers making it into key management roles perpetuates the perception that part-time work and senior management did not mix.

“Women and men regularly experience deeply ingrained cultures and views that part-time work and leadership roles aren’t compatible,” she said. “This can be particularly limiting for women, who are the majority of part-time workers and also undertake the majority of unpaid parental and caring responsibilities.”

The new data confirms this gender issue, with 80 per cent of the part-time managers being female.

Of the nearly five million workers covered by the WGEA employer census, 54 per cent were full-time, 21 per cent part-time and 25 per cent casual. Two in three men work full time, and women are almost three times more likely than men to be working part-time.

“Women are more likely to want or need to work part-time, and sometimes more than once in their careers,” Ms Wooldridge said.

Workplace Gender Equality Agency chief executive officer Mary Wooldridge.

“This new analysis shows there are severe constraints on them doing so at senior levels and helps explain why we see much lower proportions of women in leadership roles.

“This risks women’s skills and talents being under­utilised and can leave them languishing in more junior roles.”

Among CEOs, the 3 per cent figure equated to 149 people.

Almost 60 per cent were men, an indication that at the very top echelon of a company men can navigate preferential working arrangements more easily.

More broadly, the WGEA data shows that fewer than 50 per cent of women work full-time, with women twice as likely as men to be working part-time or on a casual basis after the age of 35.

Ms Wooldridge called on employers to support workers who wanted or needed to have flexible hours in their work.

“To attract and retain talent from diverse genders and of all ages, employers need to … reconsider what it means to be a leader in the workplace and implement part-time or job-sharing opportunities at managerial and executive level,” she said.