Getting Your Fair Share

Society has traditionally operated on the principle that a single person holds down a job. However, that’s changing. Starting around 1990, job sharing emerged as a viable opportunity. Typically, two people hold down the same position at the same company—each present during different days, or during hours within the same day. In some cases, an employer may match a candidate with someone else. In other cases, it’s up to an individual to find his or her own job-sharing partner in order to win the employer’s approval of a job-sharing proposal. Participants might range from an older executive working with a younger executive attending graduate school to two nurses who don’t want to log a full workweek.

Job sharing can involve different scenarios, including each participant putting in 2½ days per week, or partners splitting the week by working two full days each and overlapping on one day. The latter is considered a 1.2 employee arrangement, with each person receiving 60 percent of the total salary. Yet, like a marriage, job sharing requires a good deal of effort, constant coordination and excellent communication. Two individuals must be able to handle a single position as efficiently as one. Although working mothers have traditionally used job sharing, the trend is now fanning out to include older workers and others.

Employees aren’t the only ones who benefit from job sharing. Some companies find that it provides an alternative to layoffs and a steady stream of temporary help, smoothes over gaps due to vacations and sick days, improves morale, increases productivity, lowers training and overtime costs, and provides better job coverage. In some cases, it’s possible to match a person who is good with customer interaction and another who excels at administrative functions and create a more complete job profile. Although some positions aren’t sharable and not everyone is suited for splitting duties with another person, the two-for-one approach is redefining the concept of a job.

Check out "Finding the Work You Love" to obtain more information about job sharing and glean specific tips on how to make it work for you.  The road to happiness is paved with numerous opportunities. It's up to you to find the right ones.