Parents should remember to consider the needs of their employer when they opt to do mobile working and part-time work, according to Work Wise UK.
Many parents have chosen to work part time in recent years, in response to job cuts in the recession and the pressures of bringing up a family.
Arguments for the change include a better work/life balance and a more flexible attitude to fitting work around other commitments.
However, Work Wise UK is encouraging parents to think about their jobs as well as their personal needs, as many employers are coming forward to say they cannot afford for all workers to have the balancing factor of working part-time.
Chief executive John Flaxton said: “A lot of the employers I talk to, where they were quite big at one time on these issues around work-life balance, quite a few of them are saying, ‘well, that’s nice to have but right now, we can’t afford that. You can’t just say well ‘it’s about me and my family’. You are going to have to factor that in.”
The number of people in part-time work rose by 45 per cent last year. The biggest boost came from mothers, according to the Office for National Statistics. Many commentators said at the time that the increase in part time work was due to the lack of full time positions available.
