Why won't HR departments hire part-time HR professionals?

She’s got ten years’ HR experience under her belt, working with some of the world’s most recognised brands – including the likes of Xerox, WD40 and most recently, TikTok (where she was an HR business partner).

But since last September, when Northampton-based Nikki Adams decided not to return from maternity-leave (she instead wanted a role that would fit around her now 19-month old son) – she’s experienced something of a revelation. It seems that when looking for new HR work, HR doesn’t (ironically) ‘do’ part-time.

“When I was ready to step back into work – a job that would no longer involve doing a two-hour commuting to London – I was reasonably confident I would find a part-time position soon,” recalls Adams. “But I didn’t expect it to be quite as tough as it has been, and I’ve been surprised at just how inflexible HR departments have been to having part-time HR roles.”

What started off as initial surprise soon turned into the realisation that this inflexibility was more ingrained than she first imagined.

No part time work - surely not!

“At the same time I was looking for work, I began noticing lots of other HR professionals adding ‘looking for opportunities’ banners on their profiles and not seemingly finding work quickly either,” she recalls. Not wanting to be a ‘victim’, but instead wanting to find out why, Adams decided to document her job-search journey on LinkedIn. It was here that her posts garnered literally hundreds of messages of support. But it was also through experiencing feedback from others – and many of these being similar to her own situation – that she’s also become something of a campaigner: for the HR sector to be better at embracing part-time HR roles.