Just a Temp

Abstract

Temporary employment has grown at three times the rate of overall employment in the United States since 1982. The temporary-help industry and many management consultants praise temporary employment as a way to improve an ailing economy and to meet workers' increased demands for flexibility. However, there are costs to temporary employment. This study starts by asking the question, “What are the costs of temporary employment, and who must bear those costs?” Using intensive interviews, this research finds that temporary workers, who are disproportionately women and African Americans, are the ones who bear many of the costs in the form of alienation from work, alienation from others, and alienation from self.