Two people, one job? Startup matches workers looking to share a role

For people who need to care for children or elders, or who want to fill their non-salaried life with more than can fit in a weekend, moving to a part-time role usually means giving up strategic functions and senior positions. But that doesn’t have to be the case — the alternative is to share a job with someone of similar skills and experience.

Aiming to make that happen, UK startup Roleshare is building a matching site for job-sharing — a concept that’s been around for decades, but never really took flight. Employers fretted about processes, and employees couldn’t find shareable jobs or peers willing to take on a role together. 

It’s not just employees who benefit from working as a tiny team — employers get two brains and two skill-sets for the price of one. And unlike a typical full-time role, job-sharing means coverage is built in. When one person is on leave, the other can keep projects moving forward.

Roleshare recently closed a preseed funding round and plans to roll out its platform globally.