These days, it’s not everyone’s desire to work in the office from 9 – 5. Many people value work/life balance over things such as higher wages and job security. Can your business benefit from hiring more part-time workers? Find out more about the pros and cons of part-time vs full-time hiring in 2024.

What is Part-Time and Full-Time Hiring?

Small businesses and startups can find it hard to commit to hiring many full-time staff. With wages being one of the largest expenses annually for your business, is it wise to employ that many people on a full-time basis? Or is it best to hire a mix of part-timers as well?

Part-time staff work anywhere from a few hours a week all the way up to 30 hours a week. If you have staff who work more than that, they will be considered full-time employees. Most often, full-time staff work 35 or more hours a week.

Pros of Full-Time Hiring

It is generally considered standard to hire employees full-time. Full-time hiring brings the benefits of encouraging loyalty, more hours for each person, and making it easier to schedule meetings.

Regular Schedule

When you have staff who all work 9 – 5, it becomes far easier to arrange meetings and events where you know everyone can be present.

More Hours Per Person

More hours per person is considered a benefit by some employers. Many businesses would prefer to hire one full-time staff member than two who are part-time as they perceive this to be easier.

Perception of Loyalty

Companies often put more trust in their full-time staff to stay in the role for longer and remain loyal to the company. Whether this is perception or truth does not matter as much the fact that this is the way most employers see it.

Cons of Full-Time Hiring

While there are many benefits to full-time hiring, there are also some negative aspects.

Cost

The main drawback of hiring full-time staff is the cost. Of course, you will pay them more than you pay part-time workers because they work longer hours. Many businesses also offer certain benefits only to their full-time staff which costs even more.

Compromise on Quality

When you need to pay for 40 hours a week of work, you may not be able to afford a rate that will attract an experienced employee. Sometimes, you need to compromise on quality to be able to afford the role.

Pros of Part-Time Hiring

Many hiring managers don’t consider part-time hires. However, there are numerous benefits that part-time hiring can offer you and your business.

Less Expensive

Part-time hiring is less expensive than full-time hiring. If the recruit works 20 hours, for example, then your wage cost can be halved. That way, you can hire more people with different skills to make up your team. Instead of hiring one full-timer with particular skills, you can gain more skills by using the money to hire more people.

Productivity

Does a 20-hour worker work half as much as someone employed for 40 hours? The data suggests that no, they don’t. Workers spend a large chunk of their paid time being unproductive. Part-time workers aren’t even in the office long enough to get bored and stop working, which may account for why they can be more productive than full-timers.

One study focused on firms with a large proportion of part-time staff vs those with more full-time workers. Even just a 10% increase in part-timers was correlated with 4.8% higher productivity. Those are some impressive statistics that can equal higher profits for your business.

Better Quality Hire

If you decide to hire a part-time employee for a role, you can possibly afford to pay them more per hour. Higher rates can attract more qualified staff to your business. By deciding to hire part-time instead of full-time, you may save enough to pay the part-timer more while still saving money. Gain higher-level skills and experience in your organization by hiring a knowledgeable part-timer.

Cons of Part-Time Hiring

Part-time employment is not without its drawbacks. There are positives and negatives, just like anything else. Here are a few of the cons to hiring part-timers.

Availability

If the hiring manager and the rest of the team work full-time, they may find it frustrating that a part-timer is not available when they are for meetings and events. It can also be tough if there are many part-timers on a team as they may not all work at the same time. Picture trying to schedule a meeting when one person works 7 am – 2 pm, one 9 am – 12 pm, and one 3 pm – 6 pm.

Loyalty

It’s no surprise that some of the positive points about full-time hiring can also be the negative side to part-time hiring. Loyalty can be an issue if the part-timer takes the role while they wait for a full-time job to come up, for example. They are likely to jump ship at the first full-time opportunity if that is their goal. Spending time finding out why they want to work part-time can mitigate this risk.

Plus, these people may hold another part-time job. This can cause conflicts if they have commitments scheduled for the same time, and the other role may end up coming first. Again, check in with the staff member to see how they expect to manage this.

Overall, having a mix of both full-time hiring and part-time can be beneficial for companies. Save money and gain experience by having some part-time employees. Hire some full-time staff as well to make sure that you have people there all day responding to requests and calls. These people may also be more loyal and consistent, but not in every case.

Figure out what mix fits best with your budget and the skills you require. It will depend on the type of business you run, whether you would benefit from more people with different skill sets in part-time roles or fewer people with specific skill sets working full-time.