Concierges, adjunct professors, potato chip tasters: US employers are relying more and more on ‘disposable’ workers

In the United States, an increasing number of employers are relying on what I term "disposable workers." These are individuals who work at an employer's site, but the employer makes no commitment to them regarding career prospects or job security. My research indicates that more than one-third of U.S. workers, or roughly 57 million full- or part-time workers out of the nation's workforce of 162 million, fall into this category.

There are three main types of disposable workers: contractors, freelancers, and marginal workers. Contractors are employed by a staffing firm but work at the client's site, such as temporary office workers, building cleaners, and security guards. Freelancers work for companies, organizations, or agencies without being employees, including Uber and Lyft drivers, freelance journalists, and computer programmers.

Marginal workers are employed by companies, organizations, or agencies and lack career opportunities, with high turnover built into their jobs.

Marginal workers include staff attorneys in law firms, adjunct professors, and part-time employees. Staff attorneys are hired by law firms but have no promotion to partnership and are often brought in to handle specific cases, lacking job security. Adjunct professors, who are part-timers teaching a small number of courses, also lack job security and are not on a path to obtain permanent, tenured academic positions.

The number of tenure-track positions for college and university faculty has declined from 73% in 1970 to just 32% in 2021, leaving the rest as adjunct instructors.

Part-time marginal workers are another example of disposable labor. Employing part-timers costs less than having full-time employees on the payroll. Part-time jobs pay an hourly wage that is nearly 20% lower than full-time jobs after accounting for factors like age, education, occupation, and industry. Additionally, part-time workers have a higher turnover rate, which provides employers with greater flexibility, enabling them to adjust workforce size and avoid investing in career development.

The trend towards disposable workers has been fueled by a desire to save money. Employing freelancers and contractors allows employers to avoid mandatory benefits like Social Security contributions. Furthermore, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), implemented in 2014, requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide health insurance or pay penalties for uninsured workers. This led to an increase in part-time workers, as companies added to their ranks in an attempt to reduce health insurance costs.