Good part time work 'notoriously hard to find'

Finding part-time work that would also allow an employee to pursue a passion could be difficult to come across in New Zealand, a local recruitment consultant says. Photo / iStock

Around six million Americans choose to work part time so they can pursue a passion Bloomberg has reported, but unfortunately for most Kiwis that is not the case in New Zealand, says a recruitment expert.

A report published by the media giant, showed more than 20 million Americans were working less than 35 hours a week for "non-economic reasons", according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"Two-thirds of the 20 million are working part time because they have family obligations, are attending school, or are semi-retired, while the final third are the 6 million work part time because they don't want to commit to one job or employer," the report found.

However, finding part-time work that would also allow an employee to pursue a passion could be difficult to come across in New Zealand said senior recruitment consultant at Drake New Zealand, Rachel Davis.

"It definitely hasn't been a trend here. Part time, and good part-time work, is notoriously hard to find. Some New Zealand businesses are quite traditional still and they very much expect that 8.30am to 5pm, employers have that mentality," Davis said.

According to data released by Statistics New Zealand, in the three months to June this year, there were 1,825,400 jobs filled throughout the country. Filled jobs comprises all part-time and full-time employees plus working proprietors in businesses that have employees.

A breakdown of the statistics showed 482,800 of those jobs were part-time while 1,218,200 were full time jobs and 124,400 jobs were working proprietors.

Davis said many people would like to find part time work to achieve a better work-life balance but some businesses did not have the resources to offer this.

"I get a lot of inquiries from people wanting part time and always have done. The reasons people look for part time work is because they really are looking for that work-life balance and there are certainly people who are quite capable of doing what needs to be done in six hours a oppose to eight hours a day," Davis said.

"The reality is that it doesn't work because some employers don't have the resources to provide that environment. I think in main centres like Auckland and Wellington, it could work and it would be great to see that working in other regions like Tauranga."

The data showed an overwhelming number of part-time workers were women.

Of the 482,800 part-time jobs filled, 137,000 of those were filled by males while 345,800 were filled by female part time employees.

Ms Davis said men tended to search for full-time employment while women were likely to look for part-time work so they would be able to spend time with their children.

"Most women want to work but they also want to be there for their children so they are looking for the best of both world. If they can have that balance I personally think you end up with a happier employee that is more productive because she is happy to be at work and doesn't feel like she is missing out on time with her children."