Evaluating the Business Case for Part-Time Working Amongst Qualified Nurses

A 'new' business case for part-time working assumes a mutuality of benefit for employer and employees. Examining this hypothesis from the perspective of qualified nursing staff and managers in the NHS, a context in which the new business case for part-time working is particularly strong, this study found that the full benefits are not realized for either side. Extending the findings of other research into highly skilled/professional occupations, we conclude that, without substantive change in systems of work, the expansion of the part-time work-force could entail the under-utilization of the skills of an indispensable section of the working population