Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements, May 2017 1 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov
Gig economy No official BLS definition of gig economy or gig workers Researchers use many different definitions Many include contingent workers Some include those in alternative work arrangements CWS data allow researchers to use own definition of gig 2 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov
Contingent Worker Supplement (CWS), May 2017 Collected information on whether workers had: Contingent jobs jobs that are temporary or not expected to last Alternative employment arrangements Independent contractors On-call workers Temporary help agency workers Contract company workers Similar supplements were conducted in February of 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, and 2005 Data refer to sole or main job of employed people 3 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov
Contingent workers as a percent of total employed, February 1995-2005 and May 2017 Percent 6.0 1995 1997 1999 2001 2005 2017 5.0 4.9 4.0 4.4 4.3 4.0 4.1 3.8 3.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 Contingent workers - those who do not expect their jobs to last Source: Contingent Worker Supplements, Current Population Survey 4 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov
Age distribution of contingent and noncontingent workers, May 2017 Contingent workers Noncontingent workers 55 years and older, 17% 16 to 24 years, 28% 55 years and older, 23% 16 to 24 years, 12% 25 to 54 years, 55% 25 to 54 years, 65% Source: May 2017 Contingent Worker Supplement, Current Population Survey 5 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov
Contingent workers as a percent of total employed by sex, February 2005 & May 2017 Percent 6.0 5.0 4.0 3.9 2005 2017 4.3 3.8 3.9 3.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 Men Women Source: February 2005 and May 2017 Contingent Worker Supplements, Current Population Survey 6 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov
Contingent workers as a percent of total employed by race and ethnicity, May 2017 Percent 6.0 5.0 4.9 5.1 4.0 3.7 4.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 White Black or African American Asian Hispanic or Latino ethnicity Note: Persons of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity may be of any race. Source: May 2017 Contingent Worker Supplement, Current Population Survey 7 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov
Educational attainment of contingent and noncontingent workers, age 25 to 64, May 2017 Percent distribution 100 75 50 25 0 44 41 21 27 22 25 14 7 Contingent workers Noncontingent workers Bachelor's degree or higher Some college or associate degree High school graduates, no college Less than a high school diploma Source: May 2017 Contingent Worker Supplement, Current Population Survey 8 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov
Full- and part-time status of contingent and noncontingent workers, May 2017 Contingent workers Noncontingent workers Full time 59% Part time 41% Full time 83% Part time 17% Source: May 2017 Contingent Worker Supplement, Current Population Survey 9 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov
Selected occupations of contingent and noncontingent workers May 2017 Percent 40 35 31 30 25 24 Contingent workers Noncontingent workers 20 17 15 10 5 0 8 Management, business, and financial operations Professional and related 5 10 Sales and related 11 11 Office and administrative 3 1 Farming, fishing, and forestry 11 5 Construction and extraction 2 3 Installation, maintenance, and repair Management, professional, and related occupations Sales and office occupations Natural resources, construction and maintenance occupations Source: May 2017 Contingent Worker Supplements, Current Population Survey 10 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov
Contingent workers by their preference for contingent or noncontingent work, May 2017 It depends, 10% Not available 3% Prefer contingent employment 33% Prefer noncontingent employment 55% Source: May 2017 Contingent Worker Supplement, Current Population Survey 11 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov
Percent of contingent and noncontingent workers with health insurance coverage, February 2005 and May 2017 Percent 90 79 73 84 Contingent workers Noncontingent workers 60 59 52 50 30 18 25 0 2005 2017 2005 2017 Health insurance coverage from any source Employer-provided health insurance coverage Source: February 2005 and May 2017 Contingent Worker Supplements, Current Population Survey 12 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov
Percent of contingent and noncontingent workers eligible for employer-provided pension or retirement plans, May 2017 Percent 60 Contingent workers 48 Noncontingent workers 43 30 23 18 0 Eligible for employer-provided pension or retirement plan Included in employer-provided pension or retirement plan Source: May 2017 Contingent Worker Supplement, Current Population Survey 13 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov
Median usual weekly earnings of full-time contingent and noncontingent workers, May 2017 2017 dollars $1,000 $886 $750 $685 $500 $250 $0 Contingent workers Noncontingent workers Source: May 2017 Contingent Worker Supplement, Current Population Survey 14 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov
Four alternative employment arrangements 1. Independent contractors 2. On-call workers 3. Temporary help agency workers 4. Workers provided by contract firms 15 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov
Contingent work and alternative employment arrangements Contingent workers Workers in alternative arrangements 16 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov
Workers in alternative arrangements as a percent of total employed, February 1995-2005 and May 2017 Percent 10.0 1995 1997 1999 2001 2005 2017 8.0 6.0 6.7 6.7 6.3 6.4 7.4 6.9 4.0 2.0 1.7 1.6 1.5 1.6 1.8 1.7 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.0 Independent contractors On-call workers Temporary help agency workers Workers provided by contract firms Source: Contingent Worker Supplements, Current Population Survey 17 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov
Age distribution of workers in alternative and traditional employment arrangements, May 2017 Percent 100 75 37 27 20 25 55 years and 22 older 50 25 60 59 64 68 25 to 54 years 16 to 24 years 65 0 4 Independent contractors 14 16 On-call workers Temporary help agency workers 7 Workers provided by contract firms 13 Workers with traditional arrangements Note: Data may not sum to totals due to rounding. Source: May 2017 Contingent Worker Supplement, Current Population Survey 18 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov
Workers in alternative arrangements as a percent of total employed by gender, May 2017 Percent 12.0 10.0 8.0 8.4 Men Women 6.0 5.3 4.0 2.0 0.0 Independent contractors 1.7 1.7 On-call workers 0.9 0.9 0.8 Temporary help agency workers 0.4 Workers provided by contract firms Source: May 2017 Contingent Worker Supplement, Current Population Survey 19 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov
Workers in alternative arrangements as a percent of total employed by race and ethnicity, May 2017 Percent 12.0 White Black or African American Asian Hispanic or Latino ethnicity 10.0 8.0 7.4 6.0 4.7 5.1 6.1 4.0 2.0 0.0 Independent contractors 1.7 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.4 1.1 1.4 1.3 0.7 0.5 0.7 On-call workers Temporary help agency workers 0.6 Workers provided by contract firms Note: Persons of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity may be of any race. Source: May 2017 Contingent Worker Supplement, Current Population Survey 20 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov
Educational attainment of workers in alternative and traditional arrangements, age 25 to 64, May 2017 Percent distribution 100 75 39 34 26 Bachelor's degree 43 or higher 41 50 25 0 27 29 25 27 26 37 10 11 11 Independent contractors On-call workers Temporary help agency workers Some college or associate degree 25 27 High school graduates, no 27 college Less than a high 25 4 school diploma 7 Workers provided by contract firms Workers with traditional arrangements Note: Data may not sum to totals due to rounding. Source: May 2017 Contingent Worker Supplement, Current Population Survey 21 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov
Occupation of workers in alternative and traditional arrangements, May 2017 Percent distribution 100 7 16 75 16 50 18 13 16 11 24 39 6 19 7 13 7 25 Production, transportation, and material moving occupations Natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations Sales and office occupations Service occupations 12 9 22 17 25 0 43 Independent contractors 36 On-call workers 14 22 Temporary help agency workers 22 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov 49 Workers provided by contract firms Note: Data may not sum to totals due to rounding. Source: May 2017 Contingent Worker Supplement, Current Population Survey Management, professional, and related occupations 41 Workers with traditional arrangements
Occupations of workers in alternative arrangements compared to traditional arrangements Independent contractors Management, business and financial occupations; Sales and related; Construction and extraction Temporary help agency workers Production, transportation and material moving On-call workers Professional and related; Service; Construction and extraction; Transportation and material moving Contract company workers Professional and related; Service 23 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov
Workers in alternative arrangements by their preference for a traditional work arrangement, May 2017 Percent 100 Prefer alternative arrangement Prefer traditional arrangement 79 75 50 44 43 39 46 25 9 0 Independent contractors On-call workers Temporary help agency workers Note: Data are not shown for those answering It depends or who did not respond. Workers provided by contract firms were not asked about their preference for a traditional arrangement. Source: May 2017 Contingent Worker Supplement, Current Population Survey 24 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov
Percent of workers in alternative and traditional arrangements with health insurance coverage, February 2005 and May 2017 Percent 100 2005 2017 75 75 77 69 67 67 85 84 80 80 50 40 25 0 Independent contractors On-call workers Temporary help agency workers Workers provided by contract firms Workers with traditional arrangements Source: February 2005 and May 2017 Contingent Worker Supplements, Current Population Survey 25 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov
Percent of workers in select alternative and traditional arrangements with employer-provided health insurance, February 2005 and May 2017 Percent 100 2005 2017 75 50 49 41 56 53 25 26 28 8 13 0 On-call workers Temporary help agency workers 26 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov Workers provided by contract firms Note: Estimates for employer-provided health insurance were not tabulated for independent contractors. Source: February 2005 and May 2017 Contingent Worker Supplements, Current Population Survey Workers with traditional arrangements
Percent of workers in select alternative and traditional arrangements eligible for employer-provided pension or retirement plans, May 2017 Percent 100 On-call workers Temporary help agency workers 75 Workers provided by contract firms Workers with traditional arrangements 50 35 48 51 30 38 46 25 13 7 0 Eligible for employer-provided pension or Included in employer-provided pension or retirement plan retirement plan Note: These data were not collected for independent contractors. Source: May 2017 Contingent Worker Supplement, Current Population Survey 27 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov
Median weekly earnings of full-time workers in alternative and traditional arrangements, May 2017 2017 dollars $1,500 $1,250 $1,077 $1,000 $750 $500 $851 $797 $521 $884 $250 $0 Independent contractors On-call workers Temporary help agency workers 28 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov Workers provided by contract firms Source: May 2017 Contingent Worker Supplement, Current Population Survey Workers with traditional arrangements
4 new questions Designed to identify people who found short tasks or jobs through a website or mobile app and were paid through same website or app These data will measure electronically-mediated employment, not necessarily the gig economy BLS evaluating data, results will be published by September 30, 2018 29 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov
Contact Information CPS staff at BLS www.bls.gov/cps 202-691-6378 CPSInfo@bls.gov 30 U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS bls.gov