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Another issue with part timers is the overhead work around the employment. Basically it's the same amount of work for a business to employ a part-timer as it i

Another issue with part timers is the overhead work around the employment. Basically it's the same amount of work for a business to employ a part-timer as it is to employ a full-timer (sometimes more). So if you have a full-time role's worth of work, you will need to hire two or three part-timers to get that work done. So you're at least doubling the overhead admin work around that role compared to hiring a full timer.

malandrew 14y ago
This mainly only applies to salaried W2 workers though. Yeah the work for hiring a full-time contractor and a part-time contractor is the same, but the work involved with hiring a contractor should be minimal enough that administrative overhead costs shouldn't be an issue when you have a job that needs to get done.
- sokoloff 14y ago
  It's not just administrivia/HR work, but there's a not-small constant factor to coordinating the work of every individual on the project. 40 people, each working an hour doesn't get you the same output as 1 person working those 40 hours. (There's also an unspoken understanding in a lot of places that if a given week or two gets intense, that full-timers will silently/for-free suck it up, whereas part-timers won't. In my experience [as employee and employer], that generally works and is often "paid back" on or off the books.)
jarofgreen 14y ago
Course, that assumes the company wants a whole employee. Why do companies think of IT workers in terms of complete people? Why do they rarely say "Actually, we don't have enought work for a whole extra person but 2/5 of one would be ace!"? Happens all the time in other industries. Like admin work; tons of small charities/companies advertise for an admin person several days a week to just come in, do the paperwork then bugger off again, and you could argue that's just as much of a knowledge role as an IT worker.

malandrew 14y ago

This mainly only applies to salaried W2 workers though. Yeah the work for hiring a full-time contractor and a part-time contractor is the same, but the work involved with hiring a contractor should be minimal enough that administrative overhead costs shouldn't be an issue when you have a job that needs to get done.

sokoloff 14y ago
It's not just administrivia/HR work, but there's a not-small constant factor to coordinating the work of every individual on the project. 40 people, each working an hour doesn't get you the same output as 1 person working those 40 hours. (There's also an unspoken understanding in a lot of places that if a given week or two gets intense, that full-timers will silently/for-free suck it up, whereas part-timers won't. In my experience [as employee and employer], that generally works and is often "paid back" on or off the books.)

jarofgreen 14y ago

Course, that assumes the company wants a whole employee. Why do companies think of IT workers in terms of complete people? Why do they rarely say "Actually, we don't have enought work for a whole extra person but 2/5 of one would be ace!"? Happens all the time in other industries. Like admin work; tons of small charities/companies advertise for an admin person several days a week to just come in, do the paperwork then bugger off again, and you could argue that's just as much of a knowledge role as an IT worker.