Almost three quarters of a million part-time workers were underemployed in September 2010, according to national official figures released today. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said this represents 22 per cent of all part-time workers.

Over half of all underemployed part-time workers preferred to work full-time hours or at least 35 hours per week. One in two underemployed part-time workers were looking for more hours of work.

The most common steps taken to find more hours of work were to ask their current employer (62 per cent), contact a prospective employer (53 per cent), or search the internet (51 per cent). Over half (59 per cent) of all underemployed part-time workers preferred to work more hours with their current employer.

Older workers tended to experience longer durations of underemployment. One in two (49 per cent) underemployed part-time workers aged 45-54 years, and 52 per cent of those aged 55 years and over, had been underemployed for one year or more. In comparison, 25 per cent of underemployed workers aged 15–19 years had been underemployed for one year or more.