CONTINGENT LABOR
NEW LABOR MARKET
EXPANSION OF CONTINGENT LABOR FORCE
JOB TENURE SHORTER, LABOR MARKETS MORE VOLATILE
LARGE SCALE LAYOFFS (INCL PROFESSIONALS) OUTSIDE ECONOMIC CYCLES
EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS PERSPECTIVE
3 CONCLUSIONS
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- a significant proportion of Americans are contingently employed
- this proportion has increased over the past decade
- technicians, professionals, and managers represent a larger portion of the contingent labor force than in the past
FREE AGENTS PERSPECTIVE
INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT
BUREAUCRATIC EMPLOYMENT IS ONLY STAPLE FOR PRESCRIBED EMPLOYMENT & SOCIAL WELFARE
CONTINGENT EMPLOYMENT IS A THREAT
PRIMARY VS SECONDARY LABOR FORCE
Primary labor markets provide stable
employment, career ladders, job security,
high wages, and attractive benefit plans
Secondary labor markets are, by compari-
son, less stable and marked by lower wages.
Participants are more likely to be members
of minority groups and to work for employ-
ers who provide few benefits
RESEARCH TYPICALLY FOCUSED ON LOW-SKILLED WORKERS
RESEARCH TYPICALLY FOCUSED ON HIGH-SKILLED WORKERS
BASED ON AGENCY THEORY
return to craft-based models of employment centered on marketable skills that
release people from the confines of bureaucracy
SHARED NARRATIVE
- The lament of an expert for
whom the tension between the ideal of
technical rationality and the political reality of organizational life has become a source
of simmering discontent
- an employer's action or an unanticipated event
that undermines job security leads the expert to act on his or her discontent
- The expert finally chooses to
escape the world of full-time employment
into the world of contingent work, which
promises a way of life more consistent with
the expert's worldview
THREE key units of discontent
- POLITICS
- EQUITY
- INEPTITUDE
PERCEIVED BENEFITS
MORE MONEY
Contractors not only hoped to make
more money, they wanted to be treated as
knowledgeable and enjoy the autonomy,
flexibility, and influence they believed they
deserved.
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- independence VS being an outsider
- security VS uncertainty
- enhanced income VS hidden costs, and
- skills as expertise VS skills as a commodity
COSTS
LOSS OF BENEFITS
LOSS OF STOCK OPTIONS
NEED TO BE ON THE CUTTING EDGE