Work as a lifestyle choice
Part time work
Choice and discrimination.
Work life balance, is it achievable? Should we work less to live more, or work more to have more? Does it make sense to have more if you have less time to enjoy the spoils? Perhaps there is a happy medium for some: part time work.
In June 2016 in Australia 3,740,700 people worked part time, or 32% of the workforce. (2) Once, we might have pictured the ‘part time’ worker as a university student who lives on two-minute noodles to pay the rent. But according to the RBA there is an increasing trend: people who choose to work part time.
Of those who work part time as a preference, more are female (1) but the reasons are not clear. Are they under-employed or do they want (and even need) to work part time? While the RBA suggests an underutilisation in the labour market, what about those women who are not under-employed, and choose life over work?
One study conducted by Flex Careers and another commissioned by Seek found that one in four part time workers felt discriminated in the workplace. Of the people in their workplace 53% of full time workers had the same perception of this discrimination, for their part time working counterparts.
If the primary reason people work part time is to study, so shifting careers as a lifestyle choice could also be a factor. In a report completed by Converge International, an Australian human resource service facilitated by Australian public affairs, stated that 72% of employees are searching for purpose and meaning through their work. (3) So if people are not finding a purpose in their job maybe they are studying for a new career, or find their purpose is outside of work aka a side hustle. It is predicted that linear career paths in the future will be a thing of the past, it seems inevitable that what our careers will look like will change. The question is will society's perception of careers change?
Here are a couple of tribes for like-minded side hustlers and purpose seekers:
The League of Extraordinary Women
Information in the above article was sourced from the below:
Words By
Anita La Forgia
Life learner, multipotentialite, lifestyle elevator and creator
A treechanger who cooks to elevate life. Anita is passionate foodie using local, quality and seasonal ingredients. Living in the Macedon Ranges in Victoria she frequents the local farmers markets each week, with her beloved luggy. Her grandparents instilled the life skills of sustainable living, before sustainable living was a buzz word. She grew up in a restaurant and completing her International degree at César Ritz colleges in Switzerland, the heart land of hospitality, food and service.
Feature image: Upsplash