> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> [mailto:owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com]On Behalf Of Doug Henwood
> [Further evidence that the role of "contingent" work in the U.S. is
> greatly exaggerated...]
> Using three alternative measures, contingent workers comprised
> 1.9 to 4.3 percent of total employment in February 1999. (See table A.)
> The February 1999 survey also identified workers with alternative
> employment arrangements. There were 8.2 million workers (6.3 percent of
> the total employed) who were identified as independent contractors, 2.0
> million (1.5 percent) who worked on-call, 1.2 million (0.9 percent) who
> worked for temporary help agencies, and 769,000 (0.6 percent) who worked
> for contract firms.
I am not sure why this shows exaggetation of the issue: these numbers show nationally, contingent plus "alternative" employment comprises 11.2% to 13.6% of the economy. That's a pretty large number and obviously disciplines a large number of permanent workers who are threatened with being moved into similar situations. Companies don't actually have to keep everyone in such status to impose the discipline.
And of course, in areas like Silicon Valley, the percentages are much higher.
So if an official rate of 11-13% of the workforce is not significant, what percentage would you consider having significance?
-- Nathan Newman