The furlough schemes deployed around the world to stave off mass unemployment during the Covid pandemic were a huge labor market experiment the likes of which have never been seen before. Research from Cranfield University suggests that it showed the power of part-time work to bring people back into the workforce.

The researchers believe that the experience with furloughing during the pandemic has given employers deep exposure to more flexible ways of working. Indeed, the researchers found that 40% of those who had deployed the furlough program during Covid said that managers had become better at managing part-time workers. A similar proportion of employees thought that the furlough scheme had made their line manager more amenable to part-time work.

“Flexible furlough was a unique experiment in part-time working and it was one that many employers and employees learned a lot from as they put it into practice,” the researchers explain. “It’s vital that we don’t lose that knowledge or willingness to innovate in the workplace—employers should now be looking to build on what they learned to attract and retain talent.”

With around 20% of working-age people in the UK classed as economically inactive, the ability to offer more flexible working could be a valuable way to attract people back into the labor market. This is especially so in the case of people with long-term sickness, with the Office for National Statistics reporting that an extra 500,000 people in the UK are now economically inactive because of sickness.

Growing demand

This coincides with a growing demand for part-time work, with the researchers explaining that around a quarter of full-time employees saying that they would like to work part-time if the option was available. They believe that this is in large part driven by the rising cost of living that is prompting many people to seek second (or third) jobs to try and boost their income.

The desire for more part-time work is also driven by growing concerns around work-life balance. This, in part, underlines the gendered nature of the discussion, with employers still often viewing part-time work as something that women desire more than men, with this especially so among mothers.

“Too many people are currently excluded from the workforce and the whole country suffers due to missing out on the talents of those with caring responsibilities, the experience, and expertise of older workers and the skills of people with disabilities and long-term health conditions,” the researchers explain. “Part-time working offers an effective route back into work for many people and a real path to growth for the government and the economy more widely.”

A stepping stone

By providing access to part-time work, they also present people with a stepping stone back into the labor market. The University of California’s Katherine Newman argues in her recent book Moving the Needle that pre-Covid, many workers were involuntarily part-time, in that they wanted more hours than they actually had.

Indeed, she and her co-author Elisabeth Jacobs reveal that underemployment was a bigger problem than unemployment, with 40% of part-time workers saying that they would like more hours. This compares to just 11% who said that their hours were sufficient. This was a particular problem among traditionally under-represented groups, with over 20% of workers in this group classified as underemployed.

“The government rightly wants to see the economy grow,” the Cranfield researchers explain. “Investigating part-time working and encouraging its widespread use where appropriate could bring many millions of people currently excluded from work back into the workforce and boost the economy at a time when it is desperately needed.”

Encouraging part-time work

They provide a number of tips to help employers become more open to offering part-time work and to make it more a normal part of working life:

1. Spreading responsibility for covering hours – Such that employees can easily substitute for one another so that entire teams have responsibility for organizing work rather than individuals.
2. Making use of “multi-skilling” – This is when employers train employees to perform several roles. This helps to create greater flexibility and organizational resilience.
3. Be open about non-work commitments – The pandemic has lifted the lid somewhat on the lives employees have outside of work, so it’s important to openly discuss any non-work commitments people have and create a work-life balance that works for both parties.
4. Treat costs as an organizational investment – It’s easy to assume that investment in part-time workers is less efficient than in full-time as the costs are the same but the returns are inevitably lower. Consider it instead as an investment in workforce capability.

“The world of work is going through unprecedented change with the move to hybrid working and events like the great resignation,” the researchers conclude. “Part-time work offers a route for employers and employees to successfully navigate upheaval and thrive into the future.”