Uncertainty And Insecurity Plague Involuntary Part Time Workers

Qualified job-applicants are frustrated and bothered that they have to do low-paying part-time work, that doesn’t fully meet their monthly bills, nor are they a true reflection of the academic qualifications that they have.

Andrea Mulhearn Brobst has a four-year degree in business and yet has to settle for a poorly paid part time retail job since she was laid off “from from a real job at the beginning of this economic mess,” she said. She wants a full-time job she added.

Similarly Kathi Nguyen lost her corporate job in 2007 and since then has been hopping from one temporary job to another. “It’s just an extremely frustrating situation,” she said. “I want full-time.”

Unfortunately, for both Brobst and Nguyen and others like them, getting a full time job is become much more difficult, since the recession. Last week’s May unemployment report further dampens enthusiasm revealing that the problem will further escalate.

According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, those workers who are classified as “involuntary part time”, signifying that group of workers who’d much rather be on a full time job and who have accepted temporary jobs for economic reasons, their numbers have reached 8 million.

Employees, who are doing temporary jobs and fall under the involuntary part-time category, are those who are working lesser hours because their employers cut-down working hours owing to economic conditions or those who simply cannot find full time jobs.

Involuntary part-time employees, whose work schedules were reduced by their workers, declined 8.8 percent from last year, whilst those in part-time jobs owing to non-availability of full time jobs rose around 12 percent to 2.6 million. Last year to the figures reflected similar changes.

According to research by Heidi Shierholz, an economist for the Economic Policy Institute, the number of people who were into enforced part time employment, increased by an astounding 117 percent or 1.4 million people. “It’s probably more a story of job opportunities,” she said. “Desperate workers have to settle with what they can find.”

Companies are vary of taking on full time workers, even though the economy is showing signs of growth “Employers are reluctant to add full-time, permanent employees and they’re looking for innovative ways to respond to business,” said Craig Rowley, vice president of human resource consulting company Hay Group.

Companies are taking a risk by not taking permanent workers, given that a sudden rise in their businesses will find them lacking in their workforce. “They look at temp workers and employing more part time employees,” he said.

While Rowley believes that companies will start adding full time workers as and when the economy shows some stability, he feels that companies are getting more adjusted to the just-in-time model.“They are looking for a more flexible workforce,” he said, especially in retail and healthcare.

However, that does not augur well for those looking for permanent jobs and stability in their lives.

Nancy Kauthen, a sociologist and policy consultant in a 2011 report titled: business said, “The constant fluctuation in hours from week to week means that workers face ongoing uncertainty about their earnings. The financial instability alone can create tremendous stress for low- to moderate-income families who never know whether their wages will cover the monthly bills.”