There are four easy steps in using the Job Pairing platform:
There are three different types of job sharing:
JOB SPLIT: A Job Split allows for full autonomy of the two job mates. In effect, it represents just two part-time jobs. As an example, two dental hygienists may be covering a full-time position at a dentist’s office, working completely independent of each other.
HYBRID: A Hybrid Job Share provides a model where the two job mates share some responsibilities and split others. This model may be more suitable for management and leadership roles where complementary skills will be essential in successfully filling in the position. As an example, two leaders, one with technology background and another with strong business background can be paired to run a business together.
PURE: A Pure Job Share represents two people essentially doing the same job over different hours of the day or days of the week. They are interchangeable. As an example, two software developers can share a full-time position, each working on the same project and the same deliverables.
No. Job sharing is a work arrangement in which two individuals (job mates) share the responsibilities of a full-time position. In work sharing, instead of laying off a percentage of the workforce, the company reduces cost by reducing everyone’s hours by a certain percentage until they can go back to normal mode of operation. Work sharing is an alternative to (or a way to) reduce layoffs.
Part time employees are only expected to be present and working part of the time, whereas a job share gets the benefit of a part time job (in terms of flexibility) and the benefit of having a fulfilling role that may not be eligible for a part time arrangement. Job mates are two employees working as a team.
In a job share arrangement, there are two people who are working part time hours sharing the responsibilities of one full time job, which is of a significant benefit to the employee and the employers. When an employee is off for a day, they can completely switch off because they know their job mate is completing the work. The employer knows there is always someone in the office covering the work, and the company is getting two brains for the price of one.
Additionally, job sharing arrangements have the benefit of continuity. They are set up so that both partners can take ownership of the full-time duties from the start. While leadership on particular projects may change, there are a seamless handovers and communication between the partners that cover all aspects of the role. This means that there is no break in continuity and no catch-up, so productivity and progress are optimized and continue on a full-time basis.
Job sharing is less industry specific, and more job-function specific. The success of a job sharing arrangement relies more on the design of the role than on the industry. Job sharing works the best in situations that require continuity from the position and in roles that work on projects that span longer than ones that could be accomplished during a part-time shift.
For example, in a medical device manufacturing facility, job sharing may not work or be needed among the production associates that may be on shift work arrangements, and when the potential for part time work could exist. However, in the same facility, job sharing could work for the management team, executive assistants, operations manager, finance department, etc., that require a greater level of continuity.
Job sharing solves the problem of work-life balance for a couple different groups. Millennials, especially working moms, need and expect more flexibility in the workplace as they grow their families and careers. Secondly, the gig economy—also pushed by the younger generation—demands flexibility. This group pursues passions and hobbies, often in the form of freelancing, but they also value the stability of their career.
There is more pressure than ever before on employers to offer more flexible work arrangements. These segments of the workforce are open to finding suitable job mates to share their job with and our platform helps them find their match.
Typically, a benefit of job pairing is that a complete pair is hired together to fill a company need for a full-time position. The company decides whether to interview each member of the pair together or separately or both. If a company is ready to hire one member of a job pair and not the other, the company may choose to ask the successful candidate to identify a different job mate or select a completely different pair. For the job share to be successful, each member of the job pair must be qualified for and excited about the role and the company needs to be happy with the full pair. The decision depends on the specific role needed and organizational culture. Our recommended approach is to include an interview of both job mates together to maximize the potential for a successful job sharing match.
One of the benefits of job sharing is that a complete pair is typically hired together to fill a company need for a full time position. In a situation in which a company is ready to hire one member of a job pair and not the other, the company may choose to ask the successful candidate to identify a different job mate or select a completely different pair. For the job sharing to be successful, each member of the job pair must be qualified and excited about the role, and the company needs to be happy with the job pair.
It is important from the beginning of the role that each member of the job pair and the hiring organization have a clear, shared understanding of how performance issues will be handled. If both members of a job pair are struggling with performance, the company will typically address it with the pair together and also separately with each individual. If one member of the job pair is performing well and the other is not, it is possible through performance management to address the poorly performing partner, potentially removing them from the role, without disrupting the job of the high-performing partner. For this to work successfully, the company and the job pair members need to agree that the work output will be reduced by the amount that the terminated member of the pair was performing or agree that the remaining pair member will increase their work volume for a period of time. In a case in which one partner leaves an organization and the other partner remains, the company and the employee need to establish a shared understanding of how refilling the role will be handled.
Based on current organizational trends in the US, most employers would have separate employment agreements with each job mate, even if they are hired to work together as a pair. This allows for additional flexibility for both the employer and the job mates.
That said, smaller or more progressive organizations may elect to use an alternative model which may include a joint employment contract.
Compensation in a job sharing arrangement is handled the same way compensation decisions are made for any other hiring arrangement. Typically, the organization establishes the offer based on market conditions combined with total rewards philosophy. Once an offer is extended to each member of the job sharing arrangement, each individual decides whether or not to accept the offer. The offer amount is based on multiple factors, including level of experience and the percentage of a full time role each partner will work. For example, in a job sharing arrangement in which one partner works sixty percent of a full time role, and the other partner works forty percent of a full time role, each partner would receive an amount based on the percentage of the full time rate. This can also be determined by establishing a full time offer amount, converting that into an hourly rate and multiplying the hourly rate by the amount of scheduled work hours.
Benefit eligibility in a job-sharing arrangement is handled in the same way that all other benefit eligibility decisions are made according to the specific benefit plan rules. For example, in a situation in which each member of a job pair works 20 hours per week, they would receive whatever level of benefits is available to employees working that number of weekly hours. In a case in which a job sharing employee won’t be working enough to qualify for benefits, the organization may choose to increase the rate of pay to encourage the employee to accept a role without benefits. In many cases, this won’t be necessary because the job sharing associate may not value the benefits and is knowingly choosing a role with fewer than full time hours to meet other lifestyle goals.
It is up to the organization on how to handle performance evaluations in job sharing cases. Ideally an evaluation would include components which review the performance of the pair as a whole, as well as provide some level of feedback based on individual contributions. The approach may vary based on the structure of the job sharing arrangement. For example, for roles in which the individual job mate can clearly be identified along with their contributions, an evaluation may be done independently. If the pair truly operates as one entity and it is difficult to isolate individual contributions, the organization may elect to do one performance evaluation for the pair.
Merit and promotions should be handled in accordance with the organizational structure and philosophy of the firm. In the United States, most firms will have a separate employment contract with each job mate. Accordingly, each job mate would not necessarily be entitled to the same rate of pay or promotional opportunity. The firm may consider other factors when reviewing job mates for promotions or raises such as years of experience, education and credentials, and performance, as well as the percentage of a full time role each job mate is expected to work.
It depends on the arrangement. If the two need to have an overlap period, then it is better to have separate desks and office spaces, and maybe even equipment, depending on the employer. Otherwise, they can share the same office space without changing the arrangement to avoid causing their job mate to spend unnecessary time trying to find things. It is a good idea for job mates to share a common email and calendar, even if they may have separate emails and calendars, to simplify communication with the rest of the organization.
One of the benefits of job pairing is that it can help employers build scalable models. If one of the job mates leaves the organization, the employer has a variety of options. These options include asking the remaining job mate to work an increased schedule for a period of time, reallocating additional resources from other areas of the organization to cover the gap, utilizing a temporary service, collaborating with the remaining job mate to identify and hire a new job mate, or hiring a brand new pair.
Employers benefit in less obvious, but equally impressive ways. With a job sharing arrangement, the employer gains intangible benefits like two heads for the price of one. This includes diversity of skill, thought, expertise, experience, etc. They also gain business continuity that isn’t achievable with one employee. For example, job mates can cover each other during absences such as vacation, sick time or maternity leave. If one job mate were to end the arrangement and quit their job, instead of having a total gap in coverage, the lone job mate can continue to cover part time or step up to full time in the interim. Once a replacement is found, the lone job mate can onboard the new hire much quicker than normal.
While the overhead associated with two employees will typically equal more than for one employee, the value of putting two heads together can outweigh the initial investment over time. Two heads are better than one when it comes to effective and creative problem solving, increasing diversity of thought and fighting off decision fatigue. When it comes to the day-to-day management of a job pair, having a defined handover process will negate excessive managerial overhead.
Communication is critical for a successful job share, for both the job pair and their organization as a whole. The most important thing is to determine a communication method (or methods) that works for the pair and the organization. For example, if the job pair and organization decide the best way is via email, make sure both job mates are included on all emails for visibility. Additionally, job mates should work together to make important decisions and communicate those decisions as a united front. A job pair has reached a level of success when the organization doesn’t need to think about which job mate they should contact for an issue, because the job mates work and appear as one.
We have created an innovative platform that matches individuals to share a job. You are able to match with prospective job mates based on what is important to you and your specific job. In addition, we provide a significant knowledge base called Templates & Tools to assist employees throughout the pairing process. This knowledge base contains helpful productivity tools and worksheets designed to support those new to job sharing as they learn how to work as a pair.
We are targeting individuals who have a job to share and individuals who are looking for a job mate and/or job to share. Employees can indicate that they want to share their job on their profile, and other individuals can search for individuals who already have a job to share.
Jobpairing.com is using a two-sided market business model in which we serve two distinct user groups that mutually benefit from the platform. On the demand side, we have job seekers and employees and on the supply side, we have the employers. The demographics, pain points, and benefits are distinctly different for each side of the market.
Job Seekers & Employees (Demand Side):
The specific demographics vary for this side of the market, depending on the associated benefit and segment being attributed to the user. Here are the primary candidates for pursuing a job sharing arrangement: Those looking to increase work-life balance, caregivers of children or aging family members, professionals looking to re-enter or gradually exit the workforce, adult learners going back to school, and entrepreneurs who want to focus a percentage of their time elsewhere.
Employers (Supply Side):
The top benefits for employers include higher levels of employee satisfaction, the increased retention and attraction of top talent, increased opportunities for diversity and inclusion, and the reduced cost to rehire.
We welcome both users and companies from all industries and verticals to join the platform, as our community is continually growing. However, our initial focus is on the high-tech and health care markets and specifically educated women with children in those industries.
High-tech:
Women are severely underrepresented in the high-tech industry, making up just 25% of the workforce. Women in this industry tend to have advanced degrees and median salaries that are about twice the national average. Additionally, technology companies are vocal and aware of the low number of women in their industry and are actively tackling the problem to ensure diversity and inclusion in their companies. High-tech companies, in many cases, are also leading the movement to offer more contemporary and flexible workplace arrangements.
U.S. Census data indicates that there are approximately 4.7 million jobs in the high-tech Industry, with 1.2 million of those jobs held by women. 728,000 of those jobs are held by women between the age of 22-50 who have children and hold an advanced degree.
Health care:
The healthcare industry is female dominated, with women representing 80% of the workforce. Women in this industry tend to have advanced degrees and median salaries that are about twice the national average. Additionally, health care companies have been early adopters to job sharing arrangements and flexible workplaces.
U.S. Census data indicates that there are approximately 5.3 million jobs in the health care industry, with 4 million of those jobs held by women. 2.5 million of those jobs are held by women between the age of 22-50 who have children and hold an advanced degree.
