From the CEO

I recently had dinner with a friend ‘Emma’ who is expecting her first child. A very exciting time for her and her husband. I asked her whether she had decided what she was going to do after the baby was born – stay home, go back to work full time, or work part-time. She said that her company didn’t have part-time as an option and she was planning to go back full time. I laughed and said that there was a great resource I had heard about – TAPP- which might be able to assist if she decided she did want to work part-time.

Flex time and work life balance are buzz words these days but what do they really mean? And how does part-time work fit into this mix? These days when I hear part-time on the news these days it is usually in connection with the unemployment rate and those who are underemployed… creating a negative connotation. Yet, there are many who choose to work part-time in order to take care of children or parents, go to school, ease into retirement, etc.  So yes, these individuals are seeking a work life balance but not in the way which may be considered typical.

I define a part-time employee as someone who works less than 30 hours per week or is working on a project basis for a company (e.g. edits documents as needed). A part-time employee is NOT always temporary and may not be hourly or junior level. It is possible to work on a part-time basis in most industries with some planning. I have seen jobs posted for part-time lawyers, doctors, marketing professionals, development directors, account analysts, accountants, etc.