Job Sharing

Job Sharing for Work-Family Balance

The impact of work-family conflict has received considerable attention, particularly in the last 20 years as women have increasingly entered the workplace and more families have become dual-career or dual-earner families. Research has generally demonstrated that increased conflict between work and family demands has been associated with decreased satisfaction across the work, family, and marriage domains.

Job sharing is one of several workplace family-supportive policies that have demonstrated appeal among workers who are attempting to minimize family-work conflict. There is some evidence that women view job sharing as a more important option than do men. However, family-supportive work resources appear to increase both job and family satisfaction ratings for both men and women. Furthermore, job sharing and other family-supportive practices have been viewed by parents as most important in dealing with work-family conflicts that interfered with job goals rather than with family goals.

Although family-supportive workplace practices have been examined in recent research and calls have been made for further study of job sharing and flextime practices, the specific option of job sharing has received limited attention. This may be due at least in part to the relative infrequency of job sharing. In a national survey of 1,057 employers, the Families and Work Institute found that 37.5% of responding companies provided job share opportunities, compared to 55% that allowed employees to periodically work from home and 68% that allowed flexible scheduling. However, job sharing was the most frequent flexibility option under consideration for future implementation, suggesting that it may become more generally available for employees seeking to balance work and family demands.

The Chronicle of Higher Education has run several stories on job sharing options in the past decade, noting the increased demand for family accommodations among faculty and the benefits to college administrators who need to attract faculty couples. There is anecdotal evidence of increased job sharing among faculty members, particularly in smaller colleges. Testimonials about these experiences suggest that the costs, which include reduced salaries and challenges to earning tenure, are outweighed by the benefits of flexible employment for the majority of job sharers. Research into the experience is certainly warranted.

Job Sharing to Accommodate Restricted Work Schedules

In addition to seeking more time to accommodate family-work conflict, many workers need to decrease or have limited work hours to accommodate health or ability factors. Other workers are able to use less than full-time employment to transition into or out of the workplace. Job sharing can be an important option in both of these situations.

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