Part-time workers doing full-time work in Japan

This paper is concerned with the phenomenon of part-time workers performing similar types of jobs to full-time workers in the same workplace. We use data from Japan's Survey on Diversified Types of Employment to answer two questions. First, why are firms increasingly employing part-time workers in jobs traditionally offered to full-time workers? Second, what are the characteristics of the workers taking these jobs? As for the former, it is primarily service sector firms using this new work relationship. Interestingly, there is evidence that manufacturing firms are outsourcing in lieu of hiring domestic part-time workers. On a positive note, we find evidence that part-time workers are screened by firms for full-time jobs. As to the second question, the workers are primarily professionals working long hours. As an aside, based on our data we find no evidence that part-time workers are more likely to be involuntarily employed in full-time jobs than in non full-time jobs. J. Japanese Int. Economies 21 (4) (2007) 435–454.