Handelsblatt author Thomas Hanke analyzes interesting data and trends from all over the world in the column.
(Photo: Klawe Rzeczy)
Some media think they have found those responsible for the skills shortage: people who work part-time. The FAZ warned some time ago of a “dangerous development for the country” because “more and more people” were refusing a full-time job. “Are we doing too well?” asked the paper. With inflation at 10 percent and sharp falls in purchasing power, this seems a question of involuntary comedy.
But even in France, where reports of food theft from lack of money in supermarkets are piling up, there is a debate about the desire for more free time. It’s similar in the US.
For us, it is part of the high-level regulars’ table discussion to relate the search, especially by younger people, for a better work-life balance to the lack of workers: anyone around 20 years old noticed during the corona pandemic that work is not everything may be. To live like an Epicurean is the new model.
However, wishing for more time off the job is one thing; being able to work less hours is quite another. Another question is why: Most people who work part-time don’t do it because they value more free time than more income.
They are simply forced to do so for family reasons, they have to look after their children or parents who need care. This is shown by figures from the statistical office of the European Union, Eurostat. In the EU in 2016, this was the reason for around 30 percent of people to reduce their working hours. In the meantime – in 2022 – it was 40 percent. According to Eurostat, in second place, with almost a third, are those who simply cannot find full-time employment although they would like to do so. And more than 10 percent work fewer hours because they are studying.
No spike in part-time work
This takes away a lot of hot air from the thesis that after the Covid 19 pandemic, the preference for doing nothing increased en masse. But what about the allegedly rapid increase in part-time jobs without full time commitment? Is this actually a mass phenomenon in Germany and among our European neighbors?
In Germany, the part-time rate, i.e. the proportion of all employees who do not work full-time, rose by just 1.4 percentage points to 28.3 percent between 2017 and the end of 2022, according to Eurostat.
Undoubtedly an increase, but one cannot speak of a sudden increase. In the EU, on the other hand, the part-time rate fell from 18.5 to 17.7 percent in the same period, according to Eurostat.
>> Read here: Wework: Do coworking and office space providers still have a future?
One thing can be said about the alleged trend in the mature industrialized countries of working less and less, even if this entails a drop in income: it doesn’t exist, at least not across the board.
Women work less than men
If you look at our neighboring countries, it is striking how differently they deal with full or limited employment. According to Eurostat, the Dutch will be the European champions in 2022 when it comes to giving up full commitment. Around half of them work shorter than normal working hours.
In Poland, on the other hand, this is only the case for less than seven percent of employees. France is around the EU average; at the end of 2022, 16.4 percent preferred part-time work. Five years earlier it was almost two percentage points more.
The real excitement about part-time work has been known for a long time: it affects women much more than men, as Eurostat figures from 2021 show. Roughly speaking, the higher the part-time rate in a country, the fewer hours per month women work compared to men.
>> Read here: There are only more women on the labor market if they are relieved of housework: A guest comment
In France it is only twelve hours less, in Germany 30, in the Netherlands 40. Those affected must have heard the talk about the alleged new attitude towards life, preferring to slow down at work, like mockery in their ears.
More: The Japanese Retiree Miracle