2023 Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements — 2024-11-08

In July 2023, 4.3 percent of workers--6.9 million people--held contingent jobs on their sole or main job, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Contingent jobs are those that people do not expect to last or that are temporary. These workers do not have an implicit or explicit contract for ongoing employment in their jobs. In May 2017, the last time the survey was conducted, 3.8 percent of workers held contingent jobs. (See tables A and 1.) In addition to contingent workers, the survey also identified workers in four alternative work arrangements on their sole or main jobs. In July 2023, there were 11.9 million people who were independent contractors (7.4 percent of total employment), 2.8 million on-call workers (1.7 percent of total employment), 945,000 temporary help agency workers (0.6 percent of total employment), and 862,000 workers provided by contract firms (0.5 percent of total employment).