Flexibility makes for a happy Dutch worker

OTHER SIDE OF COIN

Not everyone likes the flexibility of part-time or temporary work and some feel it limits their career potential.

Theunis Boschma, 34, a temporary worker at mail company TNT since August 2005, would like a full-time job which, he feels, would ensure permanency and better pay.

He fears this is not likely with his current employer, which has 59,000 employees and recently said it will shed up to 7,000 jobs to cut costs.

"I would rather have a steady job. I am a single guy, I have no family and no children," he said: but the threat of losing his job hangs over his head.

"I have a feeling I need to prove myself. If I do not do it right, they may say 'we will not need you anymore'," he said.

And for the ambitious, switching to part-time work could spell the end of their career.

Once a manager, Nathalie, 36, was demoted to personnel officer at a jobs agency when she cut back her working week to 3 days after the birth of her daughter.

"It does affect your career but it is a choice you make. If you want to become a manager, then you have to work full-time. I think it is worth it but it is personal," she said.