Moving from Temp to Perm

Many part-time workers are finding it a struggle to move into a full-time position, a new study from CareerBuilder finds.

In the study, 32% of part-time workers surveyed say they haven’t been able to land a full-time job despite wanting to work full time.

These are not “classic” part-time workers, either: 31% say they are their household’s sole breadwinner, yet 39% struggle to make ends meet. These are people, therefore, who are really motivated to find full-time jobs.

So, what is preventing these folks from finding the jobs they need?

A majority (54%) of these workers feel that there simply aren’t as many jobs available in their fields as there were before the recession. Others (29%) don’t feel that they have the education needed to qualify for the full-time positions they crave, while 51% lack the skills needed for the in-demand jobs.

Most (62%) of these job seekers say they would work without pay for an organization if it would give them a shot at a full-time position.

With so many of these workers taking on multiple part-time jobs to make ends meet, there’s often little time for them to get the additional education they need. They are caught in a bind, and lack the spare time and money to do the things that would help them to improve their chances of having the careers they want.

Employers should take note of these survey findings, since they point out that there is a huge pool of hard-working people out there who are eager for a chance to prove themselves. Employers who complain about how they can’t find “qualified people” to fill vacancies should perhaps consider hiring one of these slightly less-than-qualified – but highly motivated – workers instead.