Posted on Aug 18, 2015
Why 6Million Americans Would Rather Work Part Time
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Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 17
I'm not sure that working part time is an option as much as it's a necessity. Employers are cutting back on hours to save the expense of paying government mandated benefits and employees are cutting back on hours to avoid loosing access to government benefits. Strange isn't it, how "government" keeps being mentioned in decisions affecting our private lives? Sounds more like a tyranny than a Republic of free men and women...
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COL Mikel J. Burroughs
CPT Jack Durish That is a valid point. There are many business cutting back on full-time employees because they can't afford the benefits (Healthcare is getting too expensive, benefits for dental are getting crazy as well, etc.). What we need is incentives for businesses to hire full-time employees by reducing the cost of healthcare, etc.
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They like them so well that many are working 2 or 3 just to put food on the table. Not buying this, even if it does come BLS.gov. Minimum pay for most part time jobs, no benefits don't seem to have the luster posed by Bloomberg or the BLS. Test it on anyone with a part time job.
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COL Mikel J. Burroughs
MCPO Roger Collins That's the great thing about our country and RP. You agree or disagree. I see options for families that are straped and I see options for military spouses that can get additional income opportunities for their families. I see possibilities for those retirees to earn additonal income and be active in their later years. I will always work a fulltime job, but would very much consider a part-time job working for veterans or even at the VA Cneter here in Oceanside, CA. I always try to keep an open mind and persoective when it comes to work, being an entrepreneur, or building a business from scratch. I respect your opinion as well.
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MCPO Roger Collins
I think you missed my point. Part time is a very useful endeavor for those just starting in the workforce or to supplement their incomes, but would bet if you did as I said and ask anyone working a part time job or two to survive, they would wholeheartedly agree with me in that they would prefer a full time job.
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Damn it COL Mikel J. Burroughs I hate insightful posts right before lunch.
This is an interesting article. I can see the appeal of working part time, and living full time. Personally, it is not an option. I work full time, my wife works as a contract employee. She loves the travel opportunities, but it is a feast or famine type of career. When it is good, it is very good. When it is bad, we rely on my job to keep our family going.
When I lived in Colorado Springs, I worked full time, but I worked a 4AM-12PM shift. This left me with a lot of time in the day for experiencing all the great things to do in Colorado. I would love to be able to live someplace like that, work part time, and enjoy the nature the rest of the time. That would be one reason to pull the part time over full time card. If I had young children, and didn't want to miss out on their early growth, part time over full time would be the way to go.
I could see it also as a means of finding oneself. This would be where it could apply to a Veteran. Take a person who enlists at 18, right out of high school, serves for twenty years, and then retires. That person would have entered the military, in all likelihood without fully understanding what they wanted to do with their life (the obvious exception being those who wanted to join the military at an early age), and then were put into a job that fit with their aptitudes. Now this person is in a position where they are no longer being put into a position based on aptitude, but need to provide for themselves based on qualifications. Using myself as an example. I was a SONAR Technician on Surface Ships. I did not have the maintenance training, so I did not have the electronics background that would make it easy to find a job in an electronics field. I was a SONAR operator. There is just not a lot of practical use for that skill in the civilian world. So someone with that type of background could use part time employment as a means to find out what they want to do with their life. Work a couple of varying part time jobs, see if the field is a good fit. If not, walk away. The company doesn't lose a lot because it is a part time employee, and the individual doesn't lose because it was part time income. Try enough part time jobs, and you find something that you like full time.
Another Veteran advantage of part time employment is a "cooling off" period. Everything in the military is structured. What time you wake up, what time you eat, what time you exercise, what time you go to bed, etc. A veteran who has been doing that for twenty years may just want to take some time to readjust to being a civilian. Working part time allows that person to work a few hours a day, and relax for the rest of the day. Exploring hobbies, reading, (like the article says) forming their own business, and just relating to their new civilian reality.
I think when you compare the number of hours that people in the US spend working versus living, we are one of the most working nations in the world. One thing that the US should embrace from other countries is the zeal for life. Cutting back the amount of time we spend working would be an excellent start. http://20somethingfinance.com/american-hours-worked-productivity-vacation/
This is an interesting article. I can see the appeal of working part time, and living full time. Personally, it is not an option. I work full time, my wife works as a contract employee. She loves the travel opportunities, but it is a feast or famine type of career. When it is good, it is very good. When it is bad, we rely on my job to keep our family going.
When I lived in Colorado Springs, I worked full time, but I worked a 4AM-12PM shift. This left me with a lot of time in the day for experiencing all the great things to do in Colorado. I would love to be able to live someplace like that, work part time, and enjoy the nature the rest of the time. That would be one reason to pull the part time over full time card. If I had young children, and didn't want to miss out on their early growth, part time over full time would be the way to go.
I could see it also as a means of finding oneself. This would be where it could apply to a Veteran. Take a person who enlists at 18, right out of high school, serves for twenty years, and then retires. That person would have entered the military, in all likelihood without fully understanding what they wanted to do with their life (the obvious exception being those who wanted to join the military at an early age), and then were put into a job that fit with their aptitudes. Now this person is in a position where they are no longer being put into a position based on aptitude, but need to provide for themselves based on qualifications. Using myself as an example. I was a SONAR Technician on Surface Ships. I did not have the maintenance training, so I did not have the electronics background that would make it easy to find a job in an electronics field. I was a SONAR operator. There is just not a lot of practical use for that skill in the civilian world. So someone with that type of background could use part time employment as a means to find out what they want to do with their life. Work a couple of varying part time jobs, see if the field is a good fit. If not, walk away. The company doesn't lose a lot because it is a part time employee, and the individual doesn't lose because it was part time income. Try enough part time jobs, and you find something that you like full time.
Another Veteran advantage of part time employment is a "cooling off" period. Everything in the military is structured. What time you wake up, what time you eat, what time you exercise, what time you go to bed, etc. A veteran who has been doing that for twenty years may just want to take some time to readjust to being a civilian. Working part time allows that person to work a few hours a day, and relax for the rest of the day. Exploring hobbies, reading, (like the article says) forming their own business, and just relating to their new civilian reality.
I think when you compare the number of hours that people in the US spend working versus living, we are one of the most working nations in the world. One thing that the US should embrace from other countries is the zeal for life. Cutting back the amount of time we spend working would be an excellent start. http://20somethingfinance.com/american-hours-worked-productivity-vacation/
The U.S. is the Most Overworked Nation in the World
Data on American time off, worker productivity, holiday, paid leave, sick time, hours worked per year, hours worked per week that shows how overworked we are.
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COL Mikel J. Burroughs
PO3 Steven Sherrill Thanks for sharing your story and your feedback. There is good and bad in the article, but I think its worth some RP Members considering (that can afford too). Thanks for the additional data on the Overworked Nation! I have to agree. I work out of the house, but I put in 10 and 11 hour days sometimes, in between RP Posts and discussions.
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