Reducing Your Work Hours Isn’t Always a Career Killer

“Study: Reducing hours isn’t always a career killer”
By Kathy Gurchiek
Society for Human Resource Management Online

Choosing to cut your workload to three or four days a week is not a career killer for top-level employees, according to Crafting Lives that Work: A Six-Year Retrospective on Reduced-Load Work in the Careers and Lives of Professionals and Managers, a study that was released Feb. 16.

‘Many leading employers have been formally and informally offering alternative work arrangements such as reduced-load work for many years,’ according to the executive summary of the report by McGill State University, Canada’s leading research-intensive university, and Michigan State University (MSU).”

Laurie’s Comments:

If you are an executive with major health challenges that limit your ability to work, elderly parents who require substantial attention, young children who require parenting, or simply are at a stage in your life where quality of life and personal pursuits weigh heavily in the equation of work/life balance, this is great news.

This study shows that, even in the demanding executive arena, part-time work can be a feasible option for many that allows time for a fulfilling personal and family life. As your executive resume should focus on communicating accomplishments and results of your efforts, that those were achieved in a limited timeframe should certainly be no detriment to your marketability!