The 100 Top Part-Time Employers 2016

Lidl Switzerland, which was ranked for the first time ever last year, is now at the top of the list of part-time employers with 1838 part-time positions advertised. Over the course of 2016, these were Part-time career.ch around 154,400 times. Three companies from the healthcare sector follow at some distance. (Zurich University Hospital, Hirslanden Private Hospital Group, Insel Gruppe AG) Manor (1207), last year's winner, can no longer hold its own at the top and slips to fifth place. Around 330 fewer part-time positions were advertised here than in the previous year. Aldi Suisse (1102) is also unable to maintain its very good positioning from the previous year and now occupies 6th place. The city of Zurich (1094) improves by 14 places to 7th place, followed by the canton of Berne (1084), which loses 6 places. Credit Suisse (1037) defends its strong positioning and ranks 9th. SBB (681) occupies 10th place.

Promoting diversity in companies

The city of Zurich, this year for the first time in the top 10 of part-time employers, was the second Swiss city to launch an action plan for gender equality in 2009. Due to the positive results, the equality plan is now in its second term. Ursula Hess from the Human Resources Management of the City of Zurich explains that "the realization of equal opportunities for women and men in the company as well as the promotion of flexible working time models is a central point of the personnel policy of the City of Zurich. New positions to be filled are explicitly advertised for both genders and each with 80-100%. Accordingly, every time a job is advertised, it is checked whether positions can also be advertised with a part-time degree." The aim of these measures is to increase the proportion of the underrepresented gender to 35 percent, particularly in management positions. In most cases, the proportion of women is too low here. The city of Zurich employs over 28,300 people, of whom around 59 % work part-time. 44 % of women and 15 % of men work part-time.

Number of part-time positions on the rise

A very pleasing trend emerges when comparing the number of advertised jobs in the top 10. A significant increase in the number of advertised jobs can be seen. While there were around 8700 in 2015, there are already around 12,000 part-time positions in 2016. Teilzeitkarriere.ch lists 15,00 advertised part-time positions on the Internet every day, and the trend is rising. This is a clear sign and confirms once again that many company managements are already rethinking how to meet the demands of changing social values. The trend is toward flexible, individual and mobile working time models.

Part-time employers: up and down the ladder

Solothurner Spitäler AG is the climber in 2016. With 108 places gained, it is in position 70 in the ranking. On the other hand, UBS AG also makes a considerable leap. With 101 well-made places, it now ranks 20th. Zurich Insurance Switzerland also delivers a very good result with 71 places gained; it currently occupies 15th place. The BIT - Federal Office of Information Technology, Systems and Telecommunication - continues its high flight from last year (improvement +48 places) and improves again by 49 places to rank 31.

Charles Vögele Mode AG can be described as the relegated company in 2016, losing 51 places and now ranking 89th. The company's continuing loss-making business and the resulting store closures are certainly one reason for this. The department store chain Globus AG is also struggling with the difficult market situation in the retail sector. It has lost 32 places and is now in 60th position in the current ranking.

Industries under the magnifying glass

Retail, public administration and healthcare are the most strongly represented industries in the 2016 ranking of the 100 top part-time employers, an identical result compared with the previous year. A trend is emerging in the service sector. Here, interest in part-time positions seems to be growing; at any rate, significantly more companies are represented in the Top 100 Part-Time Employers ranking in 2016 than in the previous year. This year's ranking was newly categorized into 3 industries and a separate top 20 industry ranking was created. The healthcare sector is the most strongly represented sector in the Teilzeikarriere.ch ranking. Zurich University Hospital and the Hirslanden private hospital group share first place in the industry ranking, with Insel Gruppe AG close behind. Luzerner Kantonsspital and Spitex Verband des Kanton Bern follow. In the services/public facilities sector, the city of Zurich is ahead. The Canton of Berne and Credit Suisse AG follow in second and third place, while SBB, the Canton of Zurich and Zurich Insurance Switzerland take fourth to sixth place. In the retail sector, Lidl Switzerland leads the ranking, followed by Manor and Aldi Suisse. Aldi Suisse was overtaken this year by competitor Lidl. Migros, the largest retail company in Switzerland, takes 4th place in the industry's internal ranking of part-time employers, overtaking competitor Coop (5th place) for the first time.

Andy Keel, founder of Teilzeitkarriere.ch, notes that the first large companies (including Swiss Post, Swisscom, UBS, SBB) are systematically advertising positions with an 80-100% workload or in job sharing. "In addition to the improved reach in job recruitment," Andy Keel points out, "the internal impact is even more important. Thus, there is a reversal of the 'burden of proof' for line managers. Now a manager has to argue why it has to be a 100% job." This is leading to a culture change. First, it paves the way for a greater percentage of women in higher, skilled part-time positions. It leads to more part-time men and more employees in part-time retirement positions. On the other hand, it increases the attractiveness for Generation Y and Z in the labor market.

The top 50 part-time employers: