Why Many Swiss Men Still Avoid Part-Time Work

More than one in five Swiss men now works part-time, twice the share recorded in 2000. The change places Switzerland well ahead of the European Union average, although men still lag far behind women in the move towards shorter hours.

A University of Zurich study supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation examined why many men who would prefer part-time work continue in full-time jobs. Researchers Jan Müller and Youngjoo Cha analysed data collected between 2004 and 2020. Their findings, published in the journal Community, Work and Family in July 2026, point to workplace expectations as a major barrier.

The issue matters in a country where part-time work is already a defining feature of the labour market. Around 40% of Switzerland’s working population works part-time, the second-highest rate among 38 OECD countries, behind the Netherlands. Yet the model remains strongly gendered. The Federal Statistical Office reported that nearly 60% of working women were part-time in 2025, compared with just over 20% of men.

For men, the preference is often present before the decision is made. The obstacle is whether employers, colleagues and families treat reduced hours as a normal career choice.

Only 10% of full-time men who prefer part-time work actually cut their hours, according to the study. That gap captures the distance between changing attitudes and daily decisions.

The researchers found that men are least likely to reduce their workload in occupations where the ideal worker is expected to be constantly available. In these workplaces, long hours signal commitment, while a request for a smaller workload can raise doubts about ambition or reliability. Such judgments can affect access to promotions, important assignments and informal professional networks, even where contracts formally protect part-time employees.

Financial responsibility also weighs heavily. Jürg Wiler, co-leader of the Teilzeitmann campaign, said men often worry that reducing their hours could weaken their family’s financial security. They may also fear being labelled unmotivated at work. Those concerns persist even when household incomes, high Swiss wages or a partner’s employment make part-time work economically possible.

The study does not claim that every man who wants fewer hours faces the same barrier. Its sample focuses on men who began in full-time employment, and the researchers acknowledge limits in the available data. Still, the low follow-through rate shows that preference alone rarely changes a working arrangement.

Doctors are among the clearest examples of men moving into part-time work. The University of Zurich researchers observed a rise in male doctors reducing their hours, a pattern linked to greater support for work-life balance in the profession.

The finding carries weight because medicine has traditionally been associated with demanding schedules, professional devotion and strong expectations of availability. Hospitals and medical practices have increasingly had to respond to recruitment pressures, burnout concerns and the need to retain staff. More flexible schedules can help keep experienced doctors in the workforce, although the study does not establish that one factor alone caused the increase.

The wider pattern is sector-specific. Men are more likely to take part-time roles where employers accommodate family responsibilities and where colleagues do not treat reduced hours as a lack of commitment. In occupations built around the breadwinner model, the transition remains less common.

This helps explain why national averages can conceal significant differences between professions. Switzerland’s overall male part-time rate has risen from around 10% in 2000 to more than 20%, but the change has not spread evenly across the labour market. The workplace culture attached to a job can determine whether a man’s request for fewer hours becomes a workable schedule or remains an unacted-on preference.