“From Full-Time to Part-Time”: Motivation model for the turbulence-hit knowledge workers

Knowledge workers at the bottom of an organizational hierarchy are often hit, perhaps the most, by an external turbulence. In such difficult times, knowledge workers at the bottom of an organizational hierarchy, voluntarily or involuntarily quit their full-time jobs and settle for a part-time job. In this wave of change, what are the turbulence-linked factors that matter the most and how to keep moving in the part-time jobs? Based on the theory of self-determination, this study explores the motivational drivers for the turbulence-hit knowledge workers at the bottom of the organizational hierarchy. To accomplish this objective, data were collected by interviewing such 40 part-time employees from an emerging market economy and analyzed using thematic analysis. Major themes including employer-, employee-, and job/work-related factors emerged from the data. These findings augment the theory of self-determination by identifying the role of 'external turbulence linked factors' in influencing the social environment-work motivation relationship.