So far in this life I have found it nearly impossible to do both work and school full-time. I find it amazing that people manage to do both AND raise kids at the same time. I can barely keep my own self fed and bathed while taking classes and working. I would much rather just do school full time but, as it turns out, I'm not independently wealthy and I have to work. So I work part-time. The problem with working part-time is that there are very limited options for someone who wants to work part-time but also wants a "grown-up" job (by "grown-up" job I mean a job in which one has some benefits, a reasonable wage, and there is a significant amount of sitting involved-- I'm not criticizing anyone's maturity level.) There are only a few industries that seem to really want a large number of part-time employees with restaurants and retail being two of the major ones. So, because of all this I'm a waitress with a college degree. I'd like to do something else, but everything I find either pays next to nothing or they would not be at all cool with me not showing up until about 4 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I've known quite a few people who also have an education and (/or) some marketable skills, but end up at restaurants because of the schedule flexibility. It definitely helps restaurants to be one of the only venues where decent money can be made and the schedules are flexible; they often get higher caliber employees than one would expect for the kind of work it is. So I don't understand why more employers aren't open to hiring part-time employees at "grown-up" jobs. Indeed there is an extra initial expense at hiring two people part-time vs. 1 full-time, and it's certainly more of a headache for the kids in HR, but ultimately such an arrangement could benefit employers. If the part-time employees would be willing to make a couple dollars less per hour, and if the benefits were more expensive for a part-time employee, it would be cost effective for an employer. Also, there would be less time wasted on the job, it would boost morale, and it would increase employee loyalty. It would do all these things with me, anyway. Also with everyone not working the exact same hours as everyone else, it would ease traffic congestion.
I also know that I'm not the only person in the world who wants a part-time job that does not require one to come home with aching feet and smelling of garlic (the person, not the feet -- well maybe both). Generation X and Y are both known for wanting a job and not wanting their job to be their life. I found a couple of articles from USA Today and other publications about my generation's value of work/life balance. They all talked about how it's a generation that wants to have time in their life to spend on the things that matter to them AND they want a career, not just a job. That's definitely me and it's most of my friends. These articles talked about the expectations young employees have, and it also made it sound like the expectations are being met. I don't think they are, to a large extent. I sure can't find an employer who wants to hire someone who wants a professional career but doesn't mind them working 25-30 hours a week. People want time for school and relationships and family and keeping the house clean and -- well, just other stuff. Yet whenever I look for part-time jobs on, say, hotjobs.com, all I find are jobs in retail and pyramid schemes. Why are those the only options? As the baby boomers retire there is bound to be a huge shortage of employees and maybe that will finally force employers to offer other options than 8-5 M-F workweek. Maybe we can all get together and demand something better. At least I hope so.
-Mandy
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