Part Time Replacing Full Time

 There's a huge movement afoot in the Australian workforce.  The April Labour Report has once again confirmed a dramatic rise in part time employment, with a record number of Australians working shorter hours.  The official number of Australians in part time jobs now sits at 3.44 million, a record for the Australian employment labour market.

Until recently, part time work has been growing at twice the rate of full time however the April figures officially blast that statistic out of the water with full time dropping by over 10,000 jobs and part time rising by around 26,000.
 
Allison Baker, of specialist part time job site, HireMeUp, says she's not surprised by the record figures.  "It's a trend we've seen over the last twelve months and something that we're expecting to continue to increase".
 
Baker puts the increases down to a number of factors including the economic woes particularly in the retail sector.
 
"It's no secret that retail is suffering and part time is a great solution for them.  As traditional part time employers, businesses in this sector are used to using part time staff however we're seeing them replacing even management staff now with part time or casuals".
 
And job seekers looking for part time work are on the increase as well says Baker.  "Our research shows that there are around 180,000 Australians looking for part time work each month.  They're huge numbers and we see that only increasing as well as more full timers pick up part time to supplement their income and people out of the workforce rejoin it to keep the wolf from the door."
 
According to Ms. Baker, one of the biggest increases in that area comes from the baby boomer market.  With full retirement no longer an option for many due to the erosion of funds courtesy of the GFC, Baker says that an increasing number of job seekers looking for part time work on her site HireMeUp.com.au comes from this demographic.

May figures are due for release on 7th June but Baker predicts further increases.  "The feedback we're getting from our employers gives us every indication that these numbers will continue to rise," she says.

Australian employment rose 15,500 in April, beating expectations of a fall of
5,000. Unemployment fell to 4.9% from 5.2%, and the participation rate fell to
65.2% from 65.3%, below expectations of 65.4%