Work patterns reveal gender disparity
Women are more likely to work part time and at weekends, be on call duty and juggle multiple jobs, according to a labour force survey by the Federal Statistical Office.
The results, released on Thursday, reveal that slightly more than a third of the Swiss labour force worked part time in 2014, an increase of almost 5% over a decade. The majority of women (60%) were engaged in part time jobs while only 16% of men chose this option.
The trend of flexible working hours is also increasing, with 44.6% of Swiss workers benefiting from it in 2014. But proportionately more men enjoy a flexible schedule: half of them versus slightly over a third of women.
Women also worked more odd hours than men, including Saturday (22.3% vs 18.8%) and Sunday (11.3% vs 9.9%), as well as on call duty (6.1% vs 3.7%). However, more men worked night shifts.
Women also appear to enjoy less job security than their male counterparts. Those with a tertiary education formed the group most likely to have temporary work contracts, making up 11.2% of this category as opposed to the Swiss average of 7.4%.
In addition, one in ten women juggled multiple jobs, almost twice the proportion of men. Those with a secondary education were three times as likely to work multiple jobs than their male counterparts.
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