High-fliers ‘defy the stigma of part-time’

JOB-SHARING deputy directors at GCHQ and a pioneering scientist are among a list of the most successful people working part-time.

Timewise, which promotes flexible working, said its list highlighted the fight against the stigma that part-time means a lack of ambition or inability to have a responsible job.

The list includes job-sharing deputy directors of counterterrorism at GCHQ – both mothers to young children, working 28 hours a week.

Others include Dr Jane Edwards, a scientist who played a key part in efforts to develop a Covid vaccine, and Dr Kerrie Thackray, a doctor who returned to the frontline during the pandemic, following six years out of work raising five children.

A survey of 2,000 adults commissioned by Timewise to mark 10 years since the launch of its first list, found that half still did not believe it was possible to have a part-time career.

This compares with three in four when the same question was asked a decade ago.

Timewise said its analysis of official data showed 750,000 people work in senior-level and business critical jobs in the UK that are part-time.

Part-time workers account for a quarter of the UK’S working population, said Timewise.