Job sharing: a radical change in management?
05/05/2025
4 min
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Job sharing is a workable practice as long as it is well organized in advance. This article analyses why and how this practice has been growing, notably outside of France.
In the UK, Claire Walker and Hannah Essex have shared the position of Executive Directors of the British Chambers of Commerce. This is an example of an emerging management practice, that of job sharing, an innovative work arrangement that is based on two people sharing the same job.
Job sharing is now practiced by 31% of companies in the United States and 25% in England and Switzerland. In Germany, 25% of companies with more than 500 employees offered it in 2024, compared to only 9% in 2003. Imported from the United States, this flexible concept is still relatively unknown in France, where the complexity of French regulations is seen as an obstacle to its development. However, job sharing offers many advantages that may appeal to companies.
For which positions and profiles?
The job-sharing model is particularly suited to positions requiring in-depth expertise, managerial responsibilities, or a high level of personal commitment with long working hours. The aim is to optimize efficiency by combining the skills and commitment of two professionals, while improving their work-life balance. In practical terms, this can mean each professional working three days a week, with one overlapping day which enables both people to share information and work together to ensure smooth collaboration.
Job sharing can be adapted to different stages of a professional’s career. It can therefore be relevant for:
• young professionals who want to integrate better into a company through intergenerational exchanges;
• parents or caregivers who are looking to balance their professional activity with personal responsibilities;
• senior/older workers who want to remain active and pass on their knowledge while reducing their working hours;
• professionals juggling different activities, both within and outside the company.
New demands from employees
According to a Manpower survey of more than 13,000 recruiters in eight countries in 2023, 41% of employees aspire to have a better work-life balance. This factor could motivate a third (33%) to consider changing companies.
Unlike traditional part-time work, job sharing requires close coordination between the “partners”. They not only divide up the working hours, but also the tasks, to ensure optimal continuity in the performance of their duties. Job-sharing pairs generally enjoy a high degree of autonomy in the organization of their work. However, the success of this model depends on the partners being compatible and complementary. An effective pair is characterized by mutual trust in each other’s skills and a shared vision of the objectives to be achieved.
No longer having to choose between family and career
Myriam Loingeville is one of the few employees in France to have experienced this in a large company: the French rail company SNCF. From the outset, job sharing met her need for a better work-life balance, as she explains:
“I discovered job sharing at a time when I felt I had to choose between my career and my family. I was Human Resources Manager for a 700-employee engineering unit at SNCF and a member of the Executive Committee. It was an exciting job, but the demands had become difficult to reconcile with my family life. With the support of my managers, I was able to form a tandem with a fellow manager, Carole Chipot, and we worked in co-leadership for three years. Our careers would not have followed the same path without job sharing.”
Outside of France, fewer men appear to job share (7% of tandem positions in Germany), but some are starting to pave the way, such as Lukas Krienbuehl, Co-Head of Communications at Innosuisse:
“For me, sharing a management position is an incredible opportunity to combine an exciting professional challenge with my responsibilities as a father of two young children. In my opinion, part-time work without job sharing does not offer the same prospects for responsibility and career advancement.”
Rejoining the management pool
In the world of work, commitment and availability are still intrinsically linked, which acts as a form of glass ceiling for employees who reduce their working hours. Job sharing allows such talented individuals to rejoin the management pool, enabling them to pursue their careers while having the time available at the right moment in their lives. At Mercedes, a pioneer of job sharing in Germany, 400 managers work in tandem, 25% of whom are in mixed (male-female) tandems.
Job sharing is also a valuable opportunity for professional development. By working closely together, tandems strengthen key skills such as project management, effective communication, and teamwork. A German study has also highlighted the main advantages of job sharing, including a broader range of skills and knowledge (cited by 80% of tandem managers) and increased innovation and creativity (mentioned by 70%).
Two contracts for one position
From a legal standpoint, this arrangement involves two voluntary part-time contracts for one full-time position. Human resources departments must refer to the labor laws governing part-time work at the employee’s request. Voluntary participation is fundamental to the scheme.
Employees choose their ‘partner’ freely and mutually because together they will form a tandem and will be jointly responsible for achieving the objectives. Several different part-time combinations can be proposed depending on the complexity of the position: ranging from a 50-50 split to 80-80%. It is also possible, for example, to combine a management position (at 60%) with an expert role (at 40%) to maintain technical or operational skills, creating attractive “manager-expert” positions.
Job sharing does not require any major changes to existing HR processes. The real challenge for companies lies in their ability to raise awareness, and to connect and coach people who have the skills and need for this type of career organization.
Elodie Gentina, IÉSEG School of Management, Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9221 – LEM – Lille, IÉSEG School of Management
This is the English version of an article originally published in French on the Conversation France, which is available here.
