A report developed by the Dutch international firm, Randstad, shows that countries that have part-time employment rates above the European median are the ones with lowest unemployment levels.

The survey has taken as a reference the evolution of part-time employment in Spain depending on the professional’s age and has considered data published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), for the third quarter of the years 2005 to 2017.

Data becomes relevant when comparing the part-time employment rate in Spain with the rates in the main European countries.

Randstad analysis shows that 14.3% of employed people in Spain have a part-time job, the lowest rate in the past five years. In other words, around 2.7 million workers in Spain have part-time jobs.

When analyzing the historical series, during the decade prior the economic crisis, the rate of this type of workers was around 10% and 11%. Since 2008, the part-time workers rate grew for five consecutive years to reach its highest level in 2013 (15.2%). From that moment on, the weight of this group of workers has lost almost 1 percentage unit, until reaching the rate registered in the 3^rd quarter 2017.

Nevertheless, when examining age groups, Randstad detected huge differences. One out of three professionals younger than 25 years old work part-time (34%). This is the age group with the highest part-time work rate.

They are followed by the age group that goes from 25 to 45 years old (14.4%) and those older than 45 years old (11.8%). When compared to the previous year, both the first and the second age group have lower rates. The third group has kept the same level.

As regards 2008, youngsters under 25 years old are also the group of people that has shown the highest growth rate, with a 15.6% increase, which puts them above the variation experienced on a national level (+2.9%). Secondly, are the unemployed aged from 25 to 45 years old (+3.7%), and finally, registering the lowest increase, are those elder than 25 years old (+1.7%).

The survey shows that comparison of the part-time employment rate in Spain with the main countries of the European Union, and the relationship there is between the part-time employment index and the unemployment rate.

The countries with the largest part-time employment rates also show lower unemployment rates. Every country with part-time employment rates above the European average (18.9%) show unemployment rates below 7.5%.

Holland (46.6%) and Switzerland (38%) are the countries with higher rates of part-time employment and they both show unemployment rates below the European average (7.6%), of 4.8% and 4.4% respectively. Austria and Germany also have part-time employment rates above 25% and unemployment rates below 5.5%.

The group of countries with part-time employment rates above 20% also includes Belgium, Norway, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Denmark. Each of these countries have unemployment rates below the European average.

As we go down the ranking, the countries with higher unemployment rates show up (Spain, Greece, and Italy, the three of which have rates over two digits). These are the same countries that show part-time employment rates below the European average.