American Association: Careers - Bad news for workaholics Part-timers win promotion

HIGH-FLIERS who yearn to work fewer hours but fear damaging their career prospects can take heart from a study showing that professionals who went part-time still managed to get promoted.

A study of 87 senior executives from 45 companies who took a deliberate decision to put in less time at the office has exposed the myth that working fewer hours will damage promotion prospects, according to scientists from Purdue University in Indiana and McGill University in Montreal.

Furthermore, three quarters of the employees' spouses said the new working arrangements were a success for family life and relationships, said Shelley MacDermid, associate professor of child development and families studies at Purdue.

Most of those who took part in the study were women with families and were paid between 60 per cent and 80 per cent less than their full-time salary by working on average 18 hours a week, compared to 50 or 60 hours when full-time.

More than nine out of ten said they were happier and more satisfied with the balance between work and home as a result of working less; only 10 per cent said they planned to return to full-time work within the next three years.