Working hours in Saxony: part-time replaces full-time

Nora Miethke

Part-time work is a popular model in Saxony for balancing work and private life. The vast majority of employees consciously opt for fewer hours, for example to have more time for their family or personal interests. However, one in five part-time employees would like to increase their working hours, but come up against obstacles.

These are the results of a new Study by Prognos AG on behalf of the Saxon Ministry of Justice, Democracy, Europe and Equality. The title is "Part-time (fall)?! Real freedom of choice for life and working time models" on Wednesday in Dresden. Saxony was the first federal state to explicitly examine the part-time situation in its own study, emphasized Minister Katja Meier (Greens) at the presentation in Dresden on Wednesday. On the same day, the state employment agency in Chemnitz published the latest figures, according to which part-time work has reached a record level and is displacing full-time work. According to the figures, 1.08 million people in Saxony were employed full-time and 557,300 part-time in March 2024. The proportion of part-time employees in Saxony is currently 34%, compared to 25.8% ten years ago. This puts the state in second place in the nationwide ranking after Berlin.

Why part-time work?

There are many reasons for this. For many women, family obligations such as childcare or care are the main reason. Men, on the other hand, more often opt for part-time work in order to further their education or for health reasons. As individual as the reasons may be, the consequences are similar: lower income, limited career opportunities and a lower pension. These disadvantages mainly affect women, who are significantly more likely to work part-time than men. According to the study by the employment agency, the coronavirus crisis years 2020 and 2021 have led to more part-time jobs. Among women, 44,000 full-time jobs have been cut in the past ten years, while 103,000 part-time jobs have been added at the same time.

The study is based on figures from 2022, when the proportion of women working part-time was 40 percent, compared to just 10 percent of men. Currently, more than one in two women (53.2%) work part-time. It is striking that mothers with small children are less likely to work part-time (48%) than the national average (65%). This shows that the decision to work part-time often depends on regional conditions, such as the availability of daycare places. The city of Leipzig has the highest proportion of men working part-time, with one in five men there working reduced hours - the highest proportion in central Germany compared to all cities and districts.

The part-time trap

A key problem is that not all part-time employees voluntarily work less. 14 percent of those surveyed stated that they do so because they cannot find a full-time position. A third of mothers report that their employer refuses to increase their hours. This is described in the study as a "part-time trap". According to the study, more than 20 percent of respondents would like to increase their working hours - by an average of seven hours per week.

There are also financial constraints that influence the decision to work part-time. Many employees would increase their hours if it meant they could earn a higher income or secure their pension. At the same time, the study shows that more flexible working models such as working from home or results-oriented working could encourage the willingness to increase hours.

Large potential workforce

Part-time work is often perceived as underemployment. The study highlights the enormous potential. In Saxony alone, between 67,000 and 73,000 additional full-time equivalents could be realized if the framework conditions were improved. This would be an important step towards combating the shortage of skilled workers and at the same time strengthening the economic independence of women.

What needs to change?

"I don't want to talk part-time work down, but it shouldn't become a dead end," says Meier. The working environment therefore needs to change so that people can work more. The study makes clear recommendations for action such as flexible working hours, improved childcare, more education about the long-term financial impact of part-time work on retirement provision, promoting equal rights and creating tax incentives such as the abolition of tax exemption for mini-jobs. To ensure that older employees are less likely to be forced into part-time work, the Minister believes that the collective bargaining partners have a duty and is calling for better health prevention in companies. And the future state government now has "the task of implementing these recommendations for action".