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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  1. a significant proportion of Americans are contingently employed
  1. this proportion has increased over the past decade
  1. 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

  1. 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
  1. an employer's action or an unanticipated event
    that undermines job security leads the expert to act on his or her discontent
  1. 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

  1. POLITICS
  1. EQUITY
  1. 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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  1. independence VS being an outsider
  1. security VS uncertainty
  1. enhanced income VS hidden costs, and
  1. skills as expertise VS skills as a commodity

COSTS

LOSS OF BENEFITS

LOSS OF STOCK OPTIONS

NEED TO BE ON THE CUTTING EDGE