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Why are German employers so reluctant to hire part time software developer? was recently put on hold for being off-topic.

I did read the page on what is on topic for The Workplace SE, but I found nothing that would explain why the question is not.

What exactly is off-topic about it?

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Sorry 'bout the confusion nvoigt. This is one of the quirks with our close vote system.

  1. People voted to close with a custom reason
  2. The custom reason gets listed as a comment (not in the close reason)
  3. The close reason defaults to 'off-topic'

Though it may not have been obvious, gnat's comment was actually a custom close reason he entered:

This question appears to be off-topic because it is about regulations or agreements that are company-specific and don't have universally applicable answers.

The comment is automatically generated whenever someone uses a custom close reason. Whenever someone else agrees with that reason, an upvote is automatically added. Currently it is at +5, which means people seemed to agree with the reason listed.

Unfortunately, with the write-in reasons, the banner that ends up getting put on the question explaining the close reason is quite vague. This is just the way it works after the close vote changes in 2013.

While I don't agree with the reason that was picked, I don't think it is on-topic because it is asking for people's opinion on a phenomenon that you haven't actually shown exists or is a widespread problem (your evidence is anecdotal and based on not getting a few jobs in a row). If you can show that there is a real problem here (with German employers not wanting to hire part-time developers), then adding that information to the question would improve it.

But while you're improving that part, you can go a step further. Rather than asking why they do it (which won't help you if you want a part-time development job), why not ask how to find the part-time jobs that are out there, or alternatively how to negotiate with an employer to hire you part-time for a full-time position, or something that will solve your problem (of not being able to get a part-time developer role)?

Hope that helps.

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  • Thanks for the explanation, I didn't notice the comment until you pointed it out. I don't agree with the vote either because I know that this is not only anecdotal but widespread at least in Germany. However, it's not my question to begin with, so I'll hope the OP changes it.
    – nvoigt Mod
    Commented May 20, 2014 at 7:10
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    Didn't realize you weren't the asker @nvoigt! Woops! Even if it is widespread, understanding why would only be the first step, the ideal question would ask how to find part-time positions, or how to negotiate a full-time position as a part-time one. As explained in Good Subjective, Bad Subjective, Great subjective questions inspire answers that explain “why” and “how”
    – jmac Mod
    Commented May 20, 2014 at 7:19
  • How to find part time positions would be either too broad or off topic as well. I think this questions would work better asking if it is true and if so why? But for it to really work here it would need some back up that it is difficult other than it seems that way to me. Something like a blog post or article with the claim would make it a much better question.
    – IDrinkandIKnowThings
    Commented May 30, 2014 at 15:44
  • @jmac Wouldn't simply asking why someone might be reluctant to hire part-time developers (or employees, in general, I assume) be on-topic (seems like a rather minor variation on the original)? (There would presumably be objective pro's and cons that could be listed) Possibly not exactly what the asker wants, but the closest on topic question seems better than an off topic one.
    – Bernhard Barker
    Commented May 31, 2014 at 0:12

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