Oregon’s Part-Time Workers: Nearly One-Quarter of Employment in 2012

In 2012, nearly one-quarter of employed Oregonians usually worked part-time schedules. A part-time worker is a person who usually works fewer than 35 hours per week. 

Of the 142.5 million people employed in the U.S. in 2012, 115 million (80.6%) were usually employed full time and 28 million (19.4%) were usually employed part time. Percentages in Oregon were different, with 75.6 percent of Oregon’s total employment usually working full time and 24.4 percent usually working part time in 2012. 

People work part time for a variety of reasons. Part-time jobs offer flexibility for some who seek a job that fits their circumstances, such as students, those looking for additional income from seasonal work, or a spouse in a household with young children. Such groups are generally considered the “voluntary part-time employed.” By contrast, the “involuntary part-time employed.” are people working part-time schedules because they can’t find full-time employment or have had their hours cut at work from a usual full-time schedule down to a part-time schedule.

Although most of Oregon’s part-time workers could be classified as “voluntary part-time workers,” around 26 percent of part-time workers in Oregon could be classified as “involuntary part-time workers.”  Find out more about voluntary and involuntary part-time workers in Tracy Morrissette’s full article at QualityInfo.org.