https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 16 Apr 2026 10:45:28 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thoughts-about-part-time-in-corporate-world#post-554352 Thu, 07 Feb 2013 15:47:18 +0000 MrsH 554352@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>At my office PTs are viewed as not being readily available not able to get the work done. What I mean by that is at my work salaried people sometimes need to work at night or weekends to get projects done. The one PT person we had always complained that she couldn't work more than her m-w (even though she was salaried). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thoughts-about-part-time-in-corporate-world#post-553615 Thu, 07 Feb 2013 10:45:30 +0000 KayKay 553615@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I am currently working PT. The biggest challenge for me has been balancing the pay cut/reduced hours with all of the 'extra' stuff I used to do that made me great at my job and more likely to get good evaluations and promotions. So far I have leaned more towards accepting that I will get a more average rating, as it allows me to only work the hours I planned on (and am getting paid for). I'm coming up on 6 months back at work, though, and am finally feeling the motivation to take on a little more and get back to my pre-preg professional self!</p> <p>Our benefits stayed the same, despite reduced hours, which was a fantastic perk. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thoughts-about-part-time-in-corporate-world#post-553607 Thu, 07 Feb 2013 10:42:22 +0000 mrs. wagon 553607@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm an independent contractor and when I started working again when Wagon Jr. was 18 months, I started at 3 days a week and ramped up to 4 eventually. When LMW was born I had to take unpaid maternity leave, which sucked, but then I was able to work 3 days a week and then ramp up to 4 again, which was so great for transitioning. I'm now 4 days a week and I feel like I have the best of both worlds!! I absolutely love that every weekend is a long weekend for me and I get one day with LMW all by myself (before she was born, it was a day totally to myself because WJ would go to daycare!). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thoughts-about-part-time-in-corporate-world#post-553590 Thu, 07 Feb 2013 10:35:08 +0000 jedeve 553590@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I work PT. I was hired PT before they knew I was pregnant, so it works great cause the job was already tailored that way. It probably helps it wasn't a reduction in work load, it just started that way. I haven't been back since my LO is one month though. I work 20 hrs a week, which I think I will do as 2.5 days instead of the 5 half days I did before. But we will see. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thoughts-about-part-time-in-corporate-world#post-553555 Thu, 07 Feb 2013 10:18:22 +0000 T-Mom 553555@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have been at this for several years now, trying to find the balance between part time and full time. I'm in the consulting field and work for a firm that promotes work life balance (one of the Working Mother's top 100 places to work for working mothers, although that is debatable if you ask me :-) ). I have worked FT mostly, but have also worked a 80% workweek and am now at a 60% workweek. I have been going back and forth between these as life and my work situation changes. I find that in my business, it is very difficult to actually work part time without doing extra hours. But then you aren't getting compensated. At 80% I was actually working 100% and not getting paid as such. I'm hoping with my new 60% schedule, it will force me to just walk away at 3pm like I have it planned out, but it's hard. Everyone wants to do what is best for the client, even if it means taking a meeting at 5pm on a Friday.<br /> Good luck with your schedule! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thoughts-about-part-time-in-corporate-world#post-553425 Thu, 07 Feb 2013 09:19:34 +0000 littlek 553425@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@winniebee: That's great! In my industry, similar to yours, billable hours are huge and even though a lot of women are on flexible schedules they still end up working on their days off or weekend. Part of the reason I'm going back to public accounting vs industry is they try to promote family values eventhough there are still times it doesn't work perfectly. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thoughts-about-part-time-in-corporate-world#post-553358 Thu, 07 Feb 2013 08:18:02 +0000 kml636 553358@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I just got my part time schedule (2 days in the office and 1 day working from home) approved. I waited until I was about 7 weeks into my maternity leave to bring it up. I knew it would get approved though because I have a customer that was willing to fight for me because he didn't want me to quit (I work for a government contractor). I thought this would be the perfect solution and maybe it is, but the hardest part is part time day care. It's very very hard to find for infants so I am super stressed about that, and we may end up paying for a fulltime spot for her somewhere... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thoughts-about-part-time-in-corporate-world#post-553353 Thu, 07 Feb 2013 08:09:24 +0000 winniebee 553353@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm a lawyer and work for a medium sized firm that promotes family life and supports working moms. All of the moms in my office work a "reduced schedule" of 75% time and 75% pay (and 75% billable hours). Which is 4 days a week (yeah, I know 4 days is really 80%, but I digress). I still qualify for benefits and have full vacation time and holidays. It works out fine but there are definitely times I have worked on my day off, and I still work almost 40 hours a week (8-5) and am out of the house 11 hours on my working days. That said, I cannot imagine working 5 days. My husband has a super demanding, not flexible career, so one of us had to cut back.</p> <p>Good luck : ) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thoughts-about-part-time-in-corporate-world#post-553349 Thu, 07 Feb 2013 08:03:56 +0000 Mrs. Polish 553349@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My job very very rarely allows PT. It's a very traditional 8-4:30 FT office. That being said, I mentioned to my boss (we have an excellent relationship) that I may not come back after the baby is born. We've been talking about it for a few weeks and eventually I asked if PT was an option. He said he is sure it could be worked out. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thoughts-about-part-time-in-corporate-world#post-553321 Thu, 07 Feb 2013 07:20:56 +0000 Mrs. Lovejoy 553321@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thank you guys! This was helpful. I think I just need to figure out how hard I want to push for this and how much it matters to me. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thoughts-about-part-time-in-corporate-world#post-552607 Wed, 06 Feb 2013 16:14:11 +0000 Honeybee 552607@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think it depends on your industry and position. I'm a SAHM right now while I finish my grad degree, but I hope to go back to work part-time sometime next year. Luckily, part-time positions are very popular in my field. Also, remember that part-time work is almost never salaried, usually paid at a lower hourly rate than full time, and usually get pro-rated or reduced benefits such as PTO, sick time, holidays, retirement, etc... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thoughts-about-part-time-in-corporate-world#post-552600 Wed, 06 Feb 2013 16:11:51 +0000 hilary 552600@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I start PT on Monday after 10 weeks of maternity leave. I am a business analyst but also do project management. Because of the nature of my work I am working every day 7-12. Two of those days will be at home so only going to the sitter 15 hours a week. I think it depends on your relationship with your boss. Mine is very supportive so when I told her what I wanted she said she would talk to her boss and HR. We also discussed that I would look for a new job with a more flexible company if mine was unwilling to at least give me some PT options. But you have to mean it. I love my company and didn't want to leave so this was risky for me. We will see how it works out. Good luck. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thoughts-about-part-time-in-corporate-world#post-552565 Wed, 06 Feb 2013 16:03:09 +0000 blackbird 552565@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>A friend of mine is a computer engineer and just went part time and loves it. But she also ends up working a little extra outside her hours. Her options were "let me go part time or i quit" and she was serious about it. She doesn't get benefits anymore, which makes it tough. She works 10 hour days Mon, Tues, and Thurs, and has Wedn and Fri off at home. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thoughts-about-part-time-in-corporate-world#post-552501 Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:29:14 +0000 NovBaby1112 552501@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was ft before I got pregnant and I knew I had to go back at least part time for financial reasons but also really wanted to cut back hours to be able to stay home more. I work for a corporate financial firm and brought up the part time request to my boss while I was pregnant and they allowed it, so now I will be working full days on Mon and wed, and a half day on thurs in the office, and working a half day from home on tues. I think it will work out good but we will see when I start back up in a few days! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thoughts-about-part-time-in-corporate-world#post-552482 Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:21:50 +0000 T.H.O.U. 552482@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>As a project manager I think it depends on what they want to accommodate and the projects you are working on. What is your current week like now? I know we typically have meetings every day for various projects and various update meetings, so it is a pain if you constantly have to schedule around someone being out every Tues/Thurs (for example). </p> <p>I don't think my work would let me, but I think they would consider letting me do some flex time and/or work from home. I think my ideal would be to work about 30hrs/week, but just in the office MWF for 8-9 hr days and work the rest from home. </p> <p>In the end it does just depend. There may be more relaxed projects that only need part time PM's on it and working 30hrs/week might be enough. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thoughts-about-part-time-in-corporate-world#post-552416 Wed, 06 Feb 2013 14:55:37 +0000 littlek 552416@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think it depends on what you do. I know women that have gone PT and end up working as much as someone FT because we still have client responsibilities. At my last company, my old boss told me PT was not an option but I did have flexibility to work from home as needbe. This current job is another story. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thoughts-about-part-time-in-corporate-world#post-552413 Wed, 06 Feb 2013 14:54:11 +0000 Mrs. Lovejoy 552413@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Modern Daisy: @Mrsbells: Good points, and that's sort of been the vibe I'm getting from others when they mention it (even though not directly talking about my situation). I'm in an internal position and I don't have deadlines that are given without ample time in advance. It is a small company, but I'm not sure given my job it that makes a huge difference. I'm currently hiring someone to be a PM under me and my thought is that he/she could be a good balance while I would be out 2 days.. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thoughts-about-part-time-in-corporate-world#post-552410 Wed, 06 Feb 2013 14:50:55 +0000 Mrsbells 552410@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think it all depends on your industry and how big your company is. my company is small so part time is not really an option here </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thoughts-about-part-time-in-corporate-world#post-552407 Wed, 06 Feb 2013 14:49:25 +0000 Modern Daisy 552407@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It's really rare for someone in my industry to work PT because the nature of our work kind of forces us to be available during working hours, other than vacations of course. There are some women who get away with having a 4 day work week, but it's not even talked about it's so rare. It's much more likely that I would be able to work out a work-from-home once or twice a week schedule, but I"m still kind of low on the totem pole for even that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thoughts-about-part-time-in-corporate-world#post-552404 Wed, 06 Feb 2013 14:47:55 +0000 Mrs. Lovejoy 552404@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Alivoo01: Good point, I'm on DH's insurance so it wouldn't be a factor. </p> <p>Yeah, I think even a bit of flexibility with some work from home would make it more manageable. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thoughts-about-part-time-in-corporate-world#post-552403 Wed, 06 Feb 2013 14:46:00 +0000 Alivoo01 552403@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Would insurance be a factor for you or is it through your hubby? I think PT doesn't get health benefits.</p> <p>I plan on coming back FT, but am going to see if I can work PT from home. I haven't discussed maternity leave with my work yet though. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thoughts-about-part-time-in-corporate-world#post-552364 Wed, 06 Feb 2013 14:25:38 +0000 Mrs. Lovejoy 552364@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think I need some outside perspective on my life :). I'm 25W along and starting to think about what I'll do after I have LO. I know for sure that I want to take the 12 allotted weeks of maternity, but am undecided about what comes after that. I definitely have to work, financially. But, I could go down to a compressed work week (maybe 3 days) and we'd be ok. Also, if I were part-time, DH could likely work from home one day so we'd only need childcare for 2 days. In that case, we could likely afford a nanny for 2 days and he works somewhere with backup childcare if necessary (it's probably just pretty expensive). </p> <p>Here's the issue - part-time just seems too good to be true. To me, it's literally the perfect solution to satisfying our financial needs and also my career aspirations (I'm a project manager and do enjoy working). Also, the catch is that we are re-organizing my department and I've been (im)patiently waiting until things settle to ask about PT. I honestly don't know how they will react or if they'll even let me.</p> <p>Thoughts on this? How are PT'ers viewed in your workplace? Are any of you part-time and making it work? Is it really as great as it seems? If you went from FT to PT, how did you bring it up with your company and what was the reaction? </p> <p>For reference, I work for a small company that touts work/life balance, but honestly it can be an extremely stressful, lots of hours place to work. </p>