{
  "id": 5746263,
  "title": "America’s disposable workforce is growing. It comes with hidden costs",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/05/americas-disposable-workforce-is-growing-it-comes-with-hidden-costs",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-05T08:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Fast Company",
    "slug": "fast-company",
    "url": "https://www.fastcompany.com/91595370/america-disposable-workforce-growing-hidden-costs"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Paul Osterman, a Professor Emeritus of Human Resources and Management at MIT Sloan School of Management, discusses the growing trend of \"disposable workers\" in his new book, \"Disposable Workers: The Transformation of Employment.\" He highlights five key insights into this phenomenon.\n\nFirstly, companies are moving away from permanent employee relationships, opting for contractors, freelancers, and marginal workers instead. These disposable workers lack the benefits and job security traditional employees receive. Companies benefit from this arrangement by avoiding costs like benefits and having more flexibility in their workforce.\n\nSecondly, the disposable workforce is more diverse than one might think. This includes Uber drivers, food delivery workers, staff attorneys, travel nurses, and others. Official labor statistics often fail to capture the full extent of disposable workers, as they are counted separately. Paul conducted a nationwide survey of over 6,000 workers and found that 35% of the American workforce falls into this category.\n\nThe third insight is that the consequences of disposable work extend beyond individual paychecks. Satisfied freelancers report higher satisfaction due to schedule flexibility, but contractors and marginal workers are less satisfied, showing lower commitment and willingness to work harder. This disengagement negatively impacts organizational performance and patient safety in healthcare settings. For instance, hospitals using contractor cleaning services have higher infection rates compared to those employing full-time employees.\n\nLastly, artificial intelligence is exacerbating the issue. While AI has been speculated to eliminate jobs, the rise of disposable work predates AI's emergence. The uncertainty surrounding an AI-powered future increases the incentive for companies to rely on disposable workers, as they can easily be let go when circumstances change.",
  "summary": "Below, Paul Osterman shares five key insights from his new book, Disposable Workers: The Transformation of Employment. Paul is a Professor Emeritus of Human Resources and Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management. What’s the Big Idea? The rise of disposable work is allowing companies to gain flexibility and cut costs while shedding responsibility for their workers. We need guardrails to…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}