Oregon’s Part-Time Workers

Although most people work in full-time jobs, around 21 percent of employed Oregonians usually worked part-time schedules in 2017. 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.

From 2012 to 2016, Oregon’s highest concentration of part-time employment was in food preparation and serving related occupations (56%); personal care and service (47%); and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations (43%). Specific occupations reported as being nearly all part-time included restaurant hosts and hostesses; entertainment attendants; massage therapists; musicians; and lifeguards.

Occupations with the smallest part-time worker presence included architecture and engineering (7%); installation, maintenance, and repair (9%); computer and math occupations (10%); business and financial operations (12%); and production occupations (12%).

Interestingly, Oregon’s largest occupational groups reported varying percentages of part-time workers. Business and financial operations occupations employed nearly 274,000 workers, of which almost 32,600 worked part time (12%). Office and administrative support employed 239,000, and in those occupations 28 percent worked part time. Food preparation and serving related workers, a large occupational group often associated with Oregon’s seasonal leisure and hospitality industry, reported over half of its 118,155 workers were employed part time.

For more information on part-time workers, read the full article by Workforce Analyst Henry Fields.