Total part-time employees in the labour force

IBISWorld forecasts the number of total part-time employees to rise by 3.5% in 2025-26, to 607.8 thousand people. This rise is expected to be supported by the minimum wage rising slightly to $23.50 on 1 April 2025. Ongoing concerns regarding inflation and elevated levels of interest rates prior to pandemic levels are expected to subdue economic activity and employment over the same period. These factors are expected to cause employees to favour flexible staffing, increasing the rate of part time hiring.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a notable rise in the unemployment rate in 2020-21. Despite subdued activity across many sectors that employ part-time workers, such as the hospitality, arts and retail sectors, which were hard hit by the pandemic, wage subsidies introduced by the Central Government (Te Kawanatanga o Aotearoa) to support employment, prevented the number of part-time employees from falling over the year. Due to subdued economic conditions, some employees are also expected to have worked fewer hours than normal over the year, leading them to be classified as part time employees.

Part-time employment requires an individual to work less than 30 hours per week. Over the past five years, the number of total part-time employees has increased. The number of employees working part-time as a share of total employment has risen from 17.3% in 1986-87 to an estimated 20.3% in the current year. Some part-time and casual employees have increased the number of hours they work to over 30 hours per week, but hours worked fell by 0.3% in 2025-26. However, the average weekly hours worked in New Zealand has expanded overall over the past decade. Many businesses have increasingly preferred to offer staff part-time contracts to allow more flexible working conditions. However, the increasing casualisation of the work force has not offset this upward trend in weekly hours worked, as some employees hold multiple jobs.

A rise in females in the labour force has placed upward pressure on the number of part-time employees over the past five years. In general, females are more likely to balance childcare and housework with paid work than males. According to the latest available data from Statistics New Zealand, females accounted for 69.2% of part-time employment in New Zealand. However, female employment has been slowly trending toward full-time work over the past two decades. Overall, IBISWorld forecasts the total number of part-time employees to rise at a compound annual rate of 2.2% over the five years through 2025-26.