Research report: Work-time arrangements, career progression, and job satisfaction among physicians in Germany: a cross-sectional survey

Among 898 respondents, 52.8% of physicians in part-time or other non-full-time arrangements reported satisfaction, compared with 45.3% of full-time physicians, a difference with a reported p-value of 0.020. The anonymous digital survey was conducted by the German Medical Women’s Association between September 2022 and July 2023 and invited physicians across medical specialties and career stages. The study measured work-time arrangements, satisfaction, employer support, colleague acceptance, perceived career opportunities, barriers to reducing working hours, and work–family balance.

Full-time employment was the most common arrangement, reported by 56.8% of respondents. The sample was predominantly female, with 90.9% identifying as women, and 46.2% were resident physicians. These figures describe the respondents rather than the distribution of all physicians in Germany.

The results also indicate that the 52.8% satisfaction figure covered physicians in part-time and other alternative arrangements, not part-time workers alone. Because the research was cross-sectional, it compared reported experiences at one survey period and cannot establish that working fewer hours caused greater satisfaction or determine whether satisfaction influenced physicians’ selection of an arrangement. They were also less likely to report receiving employer support to implement alternative arrangements, with an adjusted odds ratio of 0.24.

Hospital-based physicians were less likely to report acceptance of alternative work-time arrangements among colleagues, with an adjusted odds ratio of 0.21, and less likely to report equal career opportunities for colleagues using those arrangements, with an adjusted odds ratio of 0.31. They were more likely to report difficulties balancing work and family responsibilities, with an adjusted odds ratio of 2.44. All five adjusted comparisons were reported at p-values below 0.001.

These are statistical associations from the survey, not evidence that hospital employment caused the differences. Career stage and leadership responsibility were also associated with reported experiences. Compared with physicians in leadership positions, resident physicians and board-certified physicians without leadership responsibility reported lower satisfaction with their work-time arrangements, lower perceived equality of career opportunities and greater difficulty balancing work and family responsibilities; all three group differences were reported at p-values below 0.001.

The survey also found that fear of negative career consequences was the most frequently reported reason for not reducing working hours, cited by 58.2% of respondents. Approximately two-thirds perceived unequal career opportunities for colleagues using alternative work-time arrangements. Together, these findings distinguish satisfaction with a current schedule from perceptions of how that schedule is viewed within a professional career.

The authors characterized part-time and alternative arrangements as widely perceived to be career-limiting and said that structural barriers and equal career opportunities for physicians who require or prefer family-friendly schedules were important for physician well-being, workforce retention and the long-term resilience of healthcare systems. The survey directly measured reported satisfaction, employer support, colleague acceptance, perceived career opportunities, reasons for not reducing hours, and work–family balance. As a cross-sectional study based on an anonymous digital survey, it offers a snapshot of associations among work-time arrangements, employment setting, career status and the participating physicians’ reported experiences, rather than causal estimates or long-term outcomes.

Subject of Research: German physicians’ work-time arrangements, job satisfaction, work–family balance and perceived career opportunities

Article Title: Work-time arrangements, career progression, and job satisfaction among physicians in Germany: a cross-sectional survey

Article References: Carolina, V., Dorina, S., Silke, H., Tina, H., & Petra, B. (2026). Work-time arrangements, career progression, and job satisfaction among physicians in Germany: a cross-sectional survey. BMC Health Services Research. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-026-15756-9

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12913-026-15756-9

Keywords: physicians, Germany, part-time work, work-time arrangements, job satisfaction, career opportunities, work–family balance, hospital medicine, cross-sectional survey, Work-time, arrangements, career