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PRESS RELEASE: It’s part time work… but not as we know it

2014 Power 50A brand new list of 50 top executives unveiled by Timewise today (the 2014 Power Part Time List) proves that a small number of part time workers are beginning to reach the highest levels of business – though they are still the exception, rather than the norm. The individuals on the List work with multi-million pound budgets, run teams of hundreds of people, and hold top level responsibility within the firms they work for (see below for examples). It is a well-established fact that part time workers in the UK earn far less per hour than full time workers – mainly because jobs in the part time sector are mostly made up of manual and low skilled roles¹. The Power Part Time List published today seeks out, identifies and celebrates trailblazers who work in senior high level, executive roles with great success – and in doing so ‘break the norm’ of what a part time job is or can be. The List is compiled annually by co-founders Karen Mattison and Emma Stewart, CEO, to prove that there is no ‘ceiling’ on the kinds of jobs that can be offered with part time working possibilities – and that our working world is starting to change. Emma and Karen are two entrepreneurs who struggled to find good quality part time work themselves 10 years ago, after having children. Both have fought to change the market since then, and built TimewiseJobs.co.uk – a visible jobs market of better quality work for those who need flexibility. The List, designed to inspire more employers to open their doors to talented people who need flexible work, is supported by businesses that champion workplace change including EY, Regus and 6 executive search firms².

Rise in part time pay

New statistics revealed by Timewise today offer further proof that our working world is starting to change – its analysis of Office for National Statistics salary data kept over the past 10 years, reveals that the salaries (hourly rate) of women who work part time have actually been rising at a faster rate than those of any other group. In fact, their salaries have risen faster than those of men working full time by 9 percentage points (38 per cent over the past decade, compared to 29 per cent for full time working men)³. It is believed that women returning to highly skilled roles after maternity, on a part time basis, could be responsible for this key emerging trend.

Who’s on the Power Part Time List?

The 2014 Timewise Power Part Time List includes:

  • MAGGIE VAN’T HOFF – General Manager of Retail IT for Shell. Manages a $350m annual budget and has been promoted twice since first moving to part time working 5 years ago. Works 4 days a week
  • ROB & PAUL FORKAN – the 27 and 25 year old entrepreneurial brothers behind the fashion phenomenon Gandys (flip flops). Flex between 3 and 4 days a week
  • EILEEN MANNION – the Google executive responsible for launching Gmail in EMEA. Leads the marketing of Google’s advertising products. Works 4 days a week
  • GORDON NEWLANDS  – Aged 50. After 21 years as a partner in corporate at professional services firm EY, Gordon decided he wanted more ‘space’ in his week for hobbies or family. He started a ground-breaking dialogue with his boss about balancing his passions more equally, refocused his role whilst maintaining his level of seniority and responsibility, and now usually works Monday to Wednesday, leaving him feeling ‘completely re-invigorated’. Works a 60 per cent contract

Stats and quotes

  • The 2014 Power Part Time List is mostly made up of women (88 per cent, or 44 of 50). There are 7 men on the list (with two job-sharing a position) accounting for 12 per cent.
  • Across the UK more widely, 74 per cent of part time workers are currently women (6,121,000) and 26 per cent are men (2,149,000) 4.
  • Interestingly, the number of men choosing to work part time in the UK is rising – 975,000 are now working part time and giving ‘because I did not want full time’ as a reason in the latest government data (up by 72,000 men or 8 per cent, in just 12 months) – a figure that Timewise anticipates will hit 1 million for the first time next year5.

Timewise Co-founder Karen Mattison MBE says: “The individuals on this List tell us their stories in the hope of catalysing genuine change in the market. Flexibility used to be considered as a benefit required by the few. Now 8.7 million6 full time workers want it. This is the way that work is going – and the very best employers recognise that. It’s time for mass market change.” Lynn Rattigan, Deputy Chief Operating Officer of EY in the UK and Ireland, works 4 days a week herself. A judge on the panel, Lynn also inspired the search for the List and says: “Traditional working patterns are changing and, in many cases, are no longer compatible with the realities of doing business in a global economy or the needs of a modern workforce. The best employers recognise this and the Timewise Power Part Timers are fantastic examples of the top talent available when companies embrace more flexible ways of working. These inspirational role models demonstrate the art of the possible and what can be achieved when people are given greater choice over how, when and where they work.” Celia Donne, Global Operations Director at Regus comments: “Attitudes are steadily changing amongst the nation’s employers, but in order to make further progress they must firstly address outdated management techniques, such as learning to focus on output and productivity rather than hours sat at a desk. This is urgently required to help break down the culture of presenteeism which often holds back many would-be flexible workers. Secondly, on a practical level, part time staff must be allowed greater choice in where they work. Giving them the option of working closer to home rather than commuting would make roles significantly more viable. This is especially this case for working mothers, 60% of whom ask to work remotely when they return from maternity.”

Further information

For more information, images or interviews or please call Jo Burkill: t: 0207 633 4553, m: 07970 655151, e: jo.burkill@timewise.co.uk

Notes to editors

¹ Most people who work in part time jobs in the UK are clustered into low paid and low skilled roles – with part time workers currently earning 36 per cent less per hour than full time workers (i.e. when part time workers’ salaries are given as full time equivalents – not when they have been pro rata’d down). ² The 6 executive search firms are: Egon Zehnder, JCA Group, MWM Consulting, Russell Reynolds Associates, Spencer Stuart and the Zygos Partnership 3 When you look at both part time and full time pay, and gender differentials over the past 10 years – it is the salaries of women working part time that have actually increased the most – by 38.2 per cent. See below chart giving hourly rates:

Employment group Median 10 years ago Median wage now % increase over 10yrs Annual growth rate
Women working part time £6.08 £8.40 38.2% 3.3%
Women working full time £9.04 £12.24 35.4% 3.1%
Men working part £6.00 £7.95 32.5% 2.9%
Men working full time £10.58 £13.60 28.5% 2.7%

Sources: Both the 2003 and 2013 ASHE data publications from the Office for National Statistics, comparing Table 1.6a 4Timewise analysis of the latest available national Labour Market Statistics published by the Office for National Statistics at the time of writing (published on 12 November 2014). 8,270,000 people work 30 hrs/wk or less in the UK. 6,121,000 are women (74 per cent). 2,149,000 or 26 per cent are men. Source: See ‘total people working part time column’, p.50: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_381416.pdf 5From national Labour Market Statistics published by the Office for National Statistics on 12 November 2014. When asked why they worked 30hrs/wk or less, 971,000 men said ‘because I did not want a full time job’. This figure has increased by 72,000 men (8 per cent) in the past 12 months alone. Timewise expects it to hit the 1 million mark for the first time ever in 2015. See p.50, reasons for working part time – ‘I did not want a full time job’ with the data split by men: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_381416.pdf 6 From ‘A Flexible Future for Britain?’ a report compiled by Timewise in June 2014. Nationally representative survey of 1,161 GB workers conducted by ICM on behalf of Timewise identified that:

  • 70 per cent of respondents who work full time in the UK said that “I would like to work flexibly at some point in the future” (accounting for 14,677,000 people)
  • 42 per cent of full time workers said: “I want to work flexibly right now” (accounting for an estimated 8,710,000 people).
  • 34 per cent of all workers say they ‘never’ expect to be able to work flexibly.

ICM interviewed a random sample of 2000 adults aged 18+ in GB online between 25th and 26th April 2014.  1,161 were currently in either full or part time employment. Surveys were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults in the UK.

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