Underemployed: Understanding the Rise of Involuntary Part-Time Employment (2026-2030)

Deutsch Nederlands

Across Europe, labour markets are changing in ways that unemployment figures no longer capture. The rise of zero-hours contracts, gig work, and on-demand labour means that having a job no longer guarantees having enough paid hours. Underemployment affects a growing number of workers – many of them women and migrants – and is largely invisible in current policy debates. 

UNDEREMPLOYED is a cross-sectoral qualitative study of this phenomenon in three European countries. It combines time-use diaries with in-depth interviews to bridge the gap between what statistics show and what workers actually experience. Comparing the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the UK – the three countries with the highest share of part-time work – the project aims to:

• Generate foundational knowledge on involuntary part-time employment in the sectors cleaning, retail, care work, and education
• Identify norms, practices and policies in labour, migration, gender, and welfare regimes that foster or constrain its emergence
• Develop policy recommendations to reduce involuntary part-time employment and improve the situation of affected workers 

Barfuss, Reta & Schwiter, Karin (2026) Underemployed but Overworked: Reframing the Paradox of Underemployment through the Lens of Racial Capitalism, in: Geoforum 175, 104759. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2026.104759

Schwiter, Karin & Barfuss, Reta (2026) Unfreiwillig in Teilzeit [Involuntary part-time work], in: Soziale Sicherheit CHSS [Social Security], issue of 30 March, available at: https://sozialesicherheit.ch/de/unfreiwillig-in-teilzeit/ [in German and in French]

More publications will be added here as the project progresses.

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For questions about the project, feel free to contact:
Prof. Dr. Karin Schwiter karin.schwiter@geo.uzh.ch 
Department of Geography · University of Zurich · Winterthurerstrasse 190 · CH-8057 Zürich
Labour Geography Group

UNDEREMPLOYED is funded by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), based on an awarded ERC Advanced Grant 2024.