The advantage of having, say, two p/t workers instead of one f/t is that a p/t worker does not get or expect benefits, and when one cannot come to work, the other one can fill in. I have 1 f/t office manager and 2 p/t workers who do reception/clerical work. I find this to be much better than having 2 f/t workers. Also, I have found it very difficult to keep f/t workers as receptionists- the good ones, ultimately, look for more challenging work elsewhere. A good employee who is only interested in p/t reception work are often stay-at-home moms or retired women- they are not ambitious, but they are smart and educated. Those are the ideal receptionists.