1999 Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements — 1999-12-21

The proportion of U.S. workers holding contingent jobs was about unchanged between February 1997 and February 1999, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Contingent workers are persons who hold jobs that are temporary or not expected to last. Using three alternative measures, contingent workers comprised 1.9 to 4.3 percent of total employment in February 1999. (See table A.) In February 1997, the estimates were not much different, ranging from 1.9 to 4.4 percent; in February 1995, the first year the survey was conducted, the estimates ranged from 2.2 to 4.9 percent. The period between February 1995 and February 1999 was one of strong employment growth and falling unemployment. The analysis in this release focuses on the broadest estimate of contingent workers--all those who do not expect their current job to last. The February 1999 survey also identified workers with alternative employment arrangements.