Underemployed? Meet the overemployed

So the three part-time jobs you are now holding down still don't give you enough income to stay current on your mortgage and your car payment at the same time. You look at your next door neighbor, leaving the house at 5 every weekday morning and coming home at 8 every night, and think, At least she has a steady job.

It may be only a matter of time before she asks you whether she could swap jobs with you.

An item posted to the Workforce Development blog "Work in Progress" caught my attention recently because it calls attention to one of the underreported downsides of the downturn. Not only has the Great Recession created a great reserve army of the unemployed, it has put growing strain on the backs of those still employed.

Were employers distributing work to be done across the staffs they need to do it, there would be even more jobs in Philadelphia and other cities than are already open. Instead, they are piling more of it on the reduced workforces that remain - and those workers are growing increasingly dissatisfied.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 25 percent of the U.S. labor force now works more than 41 hours a week. Workforce Management and the employee assistance firm Workplace Options surveyed 600 of those workers in July, and they found that their workloads are getting heavier and their work weeks longer. More than half - 55 percent - said their workloads had increased since the recession began, and 27 percent said they had doubled. And while some said the increased load had increased their overall well being, the majority said the burden worsened theirs.

According to the blog post, some of the problems the overemployed are experiencing echo those the unemployed struggle with, including substance abuse, marital discord, depression and even homelessness. And even those not experiencing such troubles are far from happy: a study by the Leadership IQ consulting firm states that 69 percent of American workers are now disengaged or underengaged from their work.

About the only folks smiling over these developments are the owners, whose profits have shot through the roof thanks to not hiring more people to do the work. This false economy could come back to bite them, though, as the current workforce burns out.

Maybe a jittery employer should dust off an idea that was bruited around during the 1990s boom: job sharing. A couple - one working, the other not - could agree to split the hours and duties of a position, instantly lifting a great weight off three people. The working spouse gets some of her life back, the nonworking spouse has his dignity repaired, and the employer can avoid a workforce expansion for now.

It's a less than ideal solution, granted. Those profits could be put to better use putting people back to work full time; judging from this survey, it's not like there wouldn't be anything for them to do once hired. But it might spare employers worse problems later on.

Are you overworked and looking to lighten your burden, or underemployed and looking to increase it? Do you know someone who has become overworked? Share your stories in the comments.

By Sandy Smith



Sandy Smith is a veteran freelance writer, editor and public relations professional who lives in Philadelphia. Besides blogging for PhillyJobs.com, he has written for numerous publications and websites, would be happy to do your resume, and is himself actively seeking career opportunities on Beyond.com. Check out his LinkedIn profile and read his other posts on PhillyJobsBlog.com.