Employers’ attitudes toward part-time work

The social research and analysis institute, SORA, recently conducted a representative survey in one of Austria’s northern provinces on the issue of part-time work. The survey provides insights into the use of part-time work in companies employing at least 10 workers. It focused on the use of part-time work in companies of all economic sectors, while also exploring their views concerning the advantages and disadvantages of part-time work.

About the survey

In September 2007, the Institute for Social Research and Analysis (SORA) published the findings of a representative survey on part-time work – ‘Part-time work in Upper Austria between wish and reality’ (Teilzeitbeschäftigung in Oberösterreich zwischen Wunsch und Wirklichkeit (778Kb PDF)). The survey was carried out on behalf of the Upper Austrian Public Employment Service (Arbeitsmarktservice Österreich, AMS) and focused on the following two issues:

• companies’ views on and use of part-time work;

• the views of unemployed women looking for a part-time job.

As a result, the SORA report provides insights into the distribution and use of part-time work in companies in the Upper Austrian province of northern Austria. The main findings in this regard are outlined in the following sections.

Methodology

In March 2007, 1,005 human resources (HR) managers of companies employing at least 10 workers were interviewed according to the CATI (computer-assisted telephone interviewing) method. The raw data were weighted by economic sector, region and company size on the basis of the 2001 workplace census data from Statistics Austria (Statistik Austria). The workplace census included all workplaces in profit-oriented sectors of the economy, as well as non-profit sectors and public organisations. In the census, workplaces were defined as all units identified by a name or address which continuously provided work to at least one person.

The SORA survey mainly investigated the companies’ practice of part-time work and its occupational framework.

At 50%, companies employing between 10 and 19 workers constituted the largest group of the survey sample. A further 32% of the companies surveyed had between 20 and 49 staff. Every tenth company of the survey sample employed between 50 and 99 workers, while the proportion of companies with more than 99 employees amounted to only 8%.

Distribution and use of part-time work

In terms of the distribution of part-time work across the survey sample, the share of companies employing part-time workers amounts to 75%. Furthermore, the use of part-time work across companies depends on the company size: the proportion of companies employing part-time workers increases with company size. Thus, 70% of companies with a workforce of 10–19 people employ part-time workers, while this share increases to 93% for companies with at least 100 employees.

However, when looking at the proportion of part-time positions in individual companies, this share decreases as the company size increases. For instance, in companies with up to 10 employees, the median value of the proportion of part-time positions amounts to 20%, while it decreases to 11% for companies with at least 20 employees. In other words, the bigger the company is, the smaller the proportion of part-time workers employed. These findings show that, as the company size increases, the proportion of companies offering part-time employment also increases, while the share of part-time positions within the enterprises decreases.

Regarding working time, companies prefer to employ part-time workers for 23 hours a week on average. In about 50% of the companies surveyed, part-time workers usually worked between 21 and 25 hours a week (Table 1). Part-time workers usually working less than or up to 20 hours a week can be found in 25% of the companies surveyed. In only 18% of the companies under consideration, the number of weekly working hours usually worked by part-time workers amounts to between 26 and 35 hours. In 6% of the enterprises, the different weekly working hours are equally distributed.