Blackwell Reference Online

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Since this classification encompasses a wide variety of part‐time, temporary, and contract workers, employees who are considered contingent workers are engaged in a wide variety of occupations, including migrant farming and college teaching. Contingent work may also be either voluntary, when the employee does not desire a permanent position, or involuntary, when the employee desires a permanent position but is unable to find one. Because of this diversity of the contingent workforce, it is difficult to make broad generalizations about contingent workers. Perhaps the best way to define contingent workers is as “those who have a loose affiliation with their employers” ( Parker, 1994: 145 ). Although statistics vary, in part due to the types of employees that are included in the category of contingent workers, an estimated one‐fifth to one‐third of all workers in the United States are contingent. Contingent jobs in the US have been produced at a much higher rate than other types of jobs, and most of these positions are within the service industry (Hearing, 1990; Parker, 1994 ). This increase in the number of contingent workers has also occurred within other industrialized nations ( Uzzi and Barsness, 1998 ). With this increase in contingent hiring, one can also expect that it will be more difficult for employees to leave a contingent position for a permanent one. Businesses provide ... log in or subscribe to read full text