2005 Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements — 2005-07-27

The proportion of U.S. workers holding contingent jobs was little different in February 2005 than in February 2001, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Contingent workers are persons who do not expect their jobs to last or who reported that their jobs are temporary. Using three alternative measures, contin- gent workers accounted for 1.8 to 4.1 percent of total employment in February 2005. (See table A.) In February 2001, the last time the survey was conducted, they ranged from 1.7 to 4.0 percent. The first time the survey was conducted, in February 1995, the estimates ranged from 2.2 to 4.9 percent. The analysis in this release focuses on the broadest estimate of con- tingent workers--all those who do not expect their current job to last. In addition to contingent workers, the survey also identified those workers who have alternative work arrangements.