A part-time job

When "Job" means part-time, life becomes quite different

More than one million of the 1.2 million jobs added this year in the USA are part-time and
part-time jobs now represent 18 percent of the overall(1) job market, the highest level since
1997. Many economists and other experts say that most of the jobs being offered are part-
time because of economic uncertainty, changing markets and employers' efforts to save
money. Some workers take these jobs because they cannot find full-time work but need
some income, while others cite other factors, like a desire to spend more time with family
or to have a flexible schedule(2).

Whatever the cause, the high number of part-time jobs today has important implications for
job seekers as part-time jobs often come without social benefits. Along with the scarcitv(3) of
benefits, part-time workers - those working less than 35 hours a week - often have lower
hourly wages and little or no paid vacation or sick leave(4).

Joe Catanzaro had no health insurance and suffered for it last year. He endured five days
of headaches and visual problems. But instead of seeing a doctor immediately he waited
until he could no longer stand the pain and then went to a nearby hospital. The headache
turned out to be(5) the result of a serious brain disease. He took two weeks off, without pay,
from his part-time job while he recovered.

[Chuck Harner, 63, worked for 15 years as a manager before he was laid off(6) in 2001. He
has a doctorate-in mathematics but spent the next 18 months searching fruitlessly for full-
time work. In April 2003 he found a 12-hour-a-week job at a supermarket where he does
everything from sweeping the floors to selling books and records. As a manager, he made
more than $100,000 annually. Now he earns about $7 an hour.]

Still, some workers like part-time work because of the flexibility it affords. Lana Caywood,
49, a teacher, is happily employed three days a week at an elementary school. She likes it
because it gives her time for her family.

Flexibility is important for many workers. In a 2004 survey of 946 full-time professionals 39
percent said that they would definitely accept 'a job paying up to 10 percent Iess but
offering more work-life balance. And 87 percent said that they looked for flexible hours in a
new job. The part-time marketplace is also more accommodating for the laid-off textile
worker seeking to(7) retrain, the babv boomer(8) who wants to spend more time with family and
the senior citizen who is not ready to retire.

Source: The New York Times October 10, 2004 (adapted)

Vocabulary
(1) : overall : total
(2) : schedule : horaire
(3) : scarcity : le manque de
(4) : sick leave : congé maladie
(5) : to turn out to be : se révéler être
(6) : to be laid off : être licencié
(7) : to seek to : chercher à
(8) : baby boomer : personne née lors du baby-boom
qui a suivi la fin de la seconde guerre mondiale

E. Write six to eight lines in English about the job you would like to get. (4 points)
(Job, employer, working conditions, schedule, pay, days off...)