Job sharing

Job sharing or work sharing is an employment arrangement where typically two people are retained on a part-time or reduced-time basis to perform a job normally fulfilled by one person working full-time. Since all positions are shared thus leads to a net reduction in per-employee income. The people sharing the job work as a team to complete the job task and are equally responsible for the job workload. Compensation is apportioned between the workers, Working hours, pay and holidays are divided equally. The system Pay As You earn helps make deductions for national insurance and superannuations are made as a straightforward percentage^[1]. 

History in the U.S.

The news media began reporting in earnest on job sharing in the 1970s and 1980s.^[2] The practice was most often described as a solution tailored for women, as one Associated Press article summarized, "a compromise between fulltime housework and full-time employment".^[3]

1970's

In 1972 the New Ways to Work Foundation is a non-profit organization founded in the San Francisco Bay area. Its main focus was to help "establish a work world that responds to the changing needs of individuals and organizations".^[4]

In 1978 the International Personnel Management Association and the Institute of Local Self Government joined with New Ways to Work to sponsor a conference on job sharing in the public sector. More than 80 public agencies sent representatives who were ecstatic to learn about the experiences in the increasing the number of job sharing projects. The Part Time Career Employment Act pl 95-437 was passed in 1978 as well. It narrowed the definition of part-time career employment from scheduled work of less than 40 hours a week to scheduled work between 16–32 hours per week.^[4]

2000's

Job sharing became even more prevalent during the 2000s, as women have succeeded professionally in greater numbers and proportionally seek out alternative work arrangements.^[2]in the early 2000s, two important factors began to push the job sharing movement. The access to information became increasingly easy to access and the demographics in the workforce began to change. The birth of the World Wide Web made it easier for companies and job share participants to share information through web tools like email, instant messaging, web portals, online databases and multi-user domains, these web tools allowed employees to share work in a more collaborative environment and in an asynchronous manner. The ever-changing demographics in the United States also drove the job sharing arrangement. With most of the baby boomer generation leaving the United States workforce and retiring, generation X and Y have transitioned their lifestyles to an even better balance between family and work. Gender has also impacted the work force demographics. In 2004, women made up 59% of the workforce, with 50% of them in management professional positions.^[5]The banking, insurance, teaching and library professions are cited as more commonly using job sharing. Some companies that use job sharing include New York Life Insurance Company, Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, and Walgreens drugstores.^[6]

Modern Implementation in Pharmacy Academia

In pharmacy academia, job-sharing has been seen as a tool to help encourage and increase female employment.^[7] Female pharmacists, compared to males, desire to work part-time earlier on in their careers.^[7] There is a shortage in the pharmacy field of women due to some employers not providing flexible enough schedules to match the desires of female employees.^[7] In academia a similar problem exists, only  20% of full professors were women in 2007 even though 66% of students enrolled in pharmacy schools are women.^[7] In order to retain and increase female employment in the educational field, the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy implemented job-sharing in 2007 and has observed a noticeable improvement.^[7]

Advantages and disadvantages

For employees seeking more free time for themselves, job sharing may be a way to take back more control of their personal lives.^[8] Employees who job share frequently attribute their decision to "quality of life" issues.^[8] Studies have shown that net productivity increases when two people share the same 40-hour job.^[3][9]

However, there is an inherent challenge in making job sharing work for the rest of the company's stakeholders. The "handoff" or "handover" communication between those sharing the job is essential, and co-workers must adapt to working with each other, for example, one person being responsible for a task on Monday, but another on Tuesday.

See also

• Full employment
• Short time (short-time working)
• Work-life balance

References

External links

• "OPM-Part-time/Job Sharing". Retrieved 2009-08-13. 

Aspects of jobs
Topics	Analysis Attitude Control Description Description management Embeddedness Enlargement Enrichment Fair Fraud Hunting Interview Lock Performance Rotation Satisfaction Security Shadow Sharing Strain Wrapping
See also	Corporation Employment Factory Job Office Organization Whistleblower
Templates	Aspects of corporations Aspects of occupations Aspects of organizations Aspects of workplaces Employment