Part time request denied: what Rasmus Dall did next.
A part time request denied is exactly what happened to Rasmus Dall, a research scientist at Spotify. He asked for roughly eighteen hours instead of thirty-seven, and the answer was a flat no. So he resigned, and his last day was August 2026.
The eight per cent in one story.
Dall owns an orchard where he had been building a distillery, making brandies from fruit and berries. Knowing how to ask to go part time, he asked to keep the job, not to leave. They said no, with no counter-offer. However, he is not a warning, since he is simply the eight per cent.
Why successful requests stay invisible.
Dall noted that companies seldom want to hire half-time employees, so his wish was not on offer across his industry. Also, no widely documented account exists of someone who asked, was granted it, and stayed. That absence is structural, because a quietly improved Wednesday is not a story anybody publishes. As a result, stories of leaving shape what you believe is possible.
Five outcomes, including a part time request denied.
Here is what to do when your boss says no: ask what would need to be true for the answer to change. Write their reply down, since it is either a real condition or a brush-off. If they say yes and it stops, get it written with a review date. Then, if it is granted and fixes nothing, return to Morris.
Finally, if you realise you do not want a yes, you were building a case. Either way, a part time request denied still leaves you deciding on evidence, not a guess.
Prepare for a part time request denied before you send it.
Write the question you will ask if refused: what would need to be true for this to change?
Imagine they say yes, and notice honestly whether something in you sinks.
From the book.
You've spent months, possibly years, absorbing accounts of people who left, and every one of those accounts exists because leaving is an event and staying differently is not. That asymmetry has been quietly shaping what you believe is possible, and it says nothing whatever about which route works.
I Want to Start a Business but I Can't Quit My Job, chapter 13: Staying is allowed, and it can be the win
Questions about part time request denied.
What should I do after a part time request denied?
Ask what would need to be true for the answer to change, and write it down. You will soon know whether it is a real condition or a brush-off.
Why are there no stories of people who asked and stayed?
Because staying differently is not an event, nobody publishes it. The absence is structural, not suspicious.
What if I cannot bring myself to send the request?
If you fear the answer, it already exists whether or not you ask. If you fear looking less committed, that fear is evidence-based, so weigh it against leaving.
Read the whole chapter.
This lesson covers one section of chapter 13, “Staying is allowed, and it can be the win”. The book goes further, with the full evidence, the stories and every exercise.
Lessons in this chapter.
- 01 How to ask your boss for changes: the odds favour you.
- 02 William Morris useful work: the three hopes test.
- 03 Four day week trial results: promise and limits.
- 04 Flexible working request letter: number, date, review.
- 05 Job crafting: add the good, claim the training money.
- 06 Self employed median income: the hidden hourly gap.
- 07 Flexibility stigma at work: the real cost of staying.
- 08 Part time request denied: what Rasmus Dall did next.