How heavily do Americans rely on temp work? And is it a healthy phenomenon?
The percentage of the workforce in temporary employment is small, somewhere between 2 and 4 percent. It’s hard to know if it’s healthy. It’s a good thing that these jobs are available, because for a lot of people it is the job that they can get…. It’s dynamic because people are moving around. That’s a healthy thing rather than a situation where the whole job scene is very stagnant, where you have only a few routes available to get permanent jobs. How stable is the temp market compared with the shaky full-time job market? Many of the problems that temporary workers experience are shared by low-wage workers in general. A lot of temps have had permanent jobs that are no more permanent or secure. The work conditions are not particularly better. Very often they wouldn’t have had health coverage—which is the case with most temporary jobs. So, temp work can look even better because it can be a chance to turn over—to become a permanent worker. What’s the situation with health benefits? Very
