Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements News Release

Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements News Release

For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Thursday, June 7, 2018 USDL-18-0942

Technical information: (202) 691-6378 * cpsinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/cps
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov

CONTINGENT AND ALTERNATIVE EMPLOYMENT ARRANGEMENTS -- MAY 2017

In May 2017, 3.8 percent of workers--5.9 million persons--held contingent jobs, the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. These contingent workers are persons who do
not expect their jobs to last or who report that their jobs are temporary. Using three
different measures, contingent workers accounted for 1.3 percent to 3.8 percent of
total employment in May 2017. (See tables A and 1.) In February 2005, the last time the
survey was conducted, all three measures were higher, ranging from 1.8 percent to 4.1
percent of employment.

In addition to contingent workers, the survey also identified workers who have various
alternative work arrangements. In May 2017, there were 10.6 million independent
contractors (6.9 percent of total employment), 2.6 million on-call workers (1.7 percent
of total employment), 1.4 million temporary help agency workers (0.9 percent of total
employment), and 933,000 workers provided by contract firms (0.6 percent of total
employment). (See tables A and 5.)

Contingent work and alternative employment arrangements are measured separately. Some
workers are both contingent and working in an alternative arrangement, but this is not
automatically the case. The measures of contingent work and alternative employment
arrangements apply only to a person's sole or main job. For individuals with more than
one job, this is the job in which they usually work the most hours.

This information was obtained from the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly sample
survey of about 60,000 households that provides data on employment and unemployment in the
United States. Data on contingent and alternative employment arrangements were collected
periodically in supplements to the CPS from February 1995 to February 2005. The May 2017
supplement was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor's Chief Evaluation Office. Table
A presents a summary of the three contingent worker estimates and four alternative employment
arrangements. The concepts and definitions used in the supplement are included in the
Technical Note in this news release. Also see
www.bls.gov/cps/contingent-and-alternative-arrangements-faqs.htm for answers to
frequently asked questions.

_________________________________________________________________________________________
| |
| Note on New Questions in 2017 Contingent Worker Supplement |
| |
| Four new questions were added to the May 2017 Contingent Worker Supplement. These |
| questions were designed to identify individuals who found short tasks or jobs through |
| a mobile app or website and were paid through the same app or website. BLS continues |
| to evaluate the data from these new questions; the data do not appear in this news |
| release. When available, additional information will be at |
| www.bls.gov/cps/electronically-mediated-employment.htm. Findings from this research |
| will be published in a Monthly Labor Review article by September 30, 2018. |
|_________________________________________________________________________________________|

Table A. Contingent workers and workers in alternative arrangements as a percent of total
employment, May 2017
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| | Percent of total
| Contingent workers | employed
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Contingent workers are those who do not have an implicit or explicit |
| contract for ongoing employment. Persons who do not expect to continue |
| in their jobs for personal reasons such as retirement or returning to |
| school are not considered contingent workers, provided that they would |
| have the option of continuing in the job were it not for these personal|
| reasons. |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| Estimate 1 |
| |
| Wage and salary workers who expect their jobs will last for an |
| additional year or less and who had worked at their jobs for 1 |
| year or less. Self-employed workers and independent contractors |
| are excluded from this estimate. Temporary help and contract |
| workers are included in this estimate based on the expected duration |
| and tenure of their employment with the temporary help or contract | 1.3
| firm, not with the specific client to whom they are assigned. |
| |
| Estimate 2 |
| |
| Workers, including the self-employed and independent contractors, |
| who expect their employment to last for an additional year or |
| less and who had worked at their jobs (or been self-employed) for |
| 1 year or less. Temporary help and contract workers are included in |
| this estimate based on the expected duration and tenure with the |
| client to whom they are assigned, instead of their tenure with | 1.6
| the temporary help or contract firm. |
| |
| Estimate 3 |
| |
| Workers who do not expect their jobs to last. Wage and salary |
| workers are included even if they already had held the job for |
| more than 1 year and expect to hold the job for at least an |
| additional year. The self-employed and independent contractors |
| are included if they expect their employment to last for an |
| additional year or less and they had been self-employed or | 3.8
| independent contractors for 1 year or less. |
| |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Alternative employment arrangements
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Independent contractors |
| |
| Workers who are identified as independent contractors, independent |
| consultants, or freelance workers, regardless of whether they are self-| 6.9
| employed or wage and salary workers. |
| |
| On-call workers |
| |
| Workers who are called to work only as needed, although they can be | 1.7
| scheduled to work for several days or weeks in a row. |
| |
| Temporary help agency workers |
| |
| Workers who are paid by a temporary help agency, whether or not their |
| job is temporary. | 0.9
| |
| Workers provided by contract firms |
| |
| Workers who are employed by a company that provides them or their | 0.6
| services to others under contract, are usually assigned to only one |
| customer, and usually work at the customer's worksite. |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See the Technical Note for the concepts and key questions used to identify these workers.

Highlights from the May 2017 data:

--Under the broadest measure of contingency, there were 5.9 million contingent workers;
these workers who did not expect their jobs to last accounted for 3.8 percent of
total employment. (See table 1.)

--Contingent workers were more than twice as likely as noncontingent workers to be under
age 25. They were also more than twice as likely as noncontingent workers to work part
time. (See table 2.)

--Young contingent workers (16- to 24-year-olds) were much more likely than their noncontingent
counterparts to be enrolled in school (62 percent and 36 percent, respectively). (See table 3.)

--Contingent workers were more likely to work in professional and related occupations and
in construction and extraction occupations than noncontingent workers. (See table 4.)

--More than half of contingent workers (55 percent) would have preferred a permanent job.
(See table 10.)

--In terms of alternative employment arrangements, 6.9 percent of all workers were independent
contractors, 1.7 percent were on-call workers, 0.9 percent were temporary help agency workers,
and 0.6 percent were workers provided by contract firms. (See table A.)

--The demographic characteristics of workers in alternative employment arrangements varied
between the four arrangements. Compared to workers in traditional arrangements, independent
contractors were more likely to be older, temporary help agency workers were more likely to
be Black or Hispanic or Latino, and workers provided by contract companies were more likely
to be men. (See table 6.)

--While 79 percent of independent contractors preferred their arrangement over a traditional
job, only 44 percent of on-call workers and 39 percent of temporary help agency workers
preferred their work arrangement. (See table 11.)

--The proportion of workers employed in alternative arrangements who also were classified as
contingent workers ranged from 3 percent of independent contractors to 42 percent of temporary
help agency workers. (See table 12.)

Contingent Work

In May 2017, the three estimates of contingent workers ranged from 1.3 percent to 3.8 percent of employment.
(See table A and the Technical Note for an explanation of the concepts.) In February 2005, the last
time the survey was conducted, all three measures were higher, ranging from 1.8 percent to 4.1
percent of employment. In February 1995, the first year the survey was conducted, the estimates
ranged from 2.2 percent to 4.9 percent. The characteristics of workers in contingent jobs in May 2017 were
generally similar to those in prior surveys.

The analysis in this news release focuses on the third and largest estimate of contingent workers--
all those who do not expect their current job to last.

Demographic Characteristics of Contingent Workers

Using the broadest estimate of contingency, 5.9 million workers were classified as contingent in May
2017. Contingent workers were more than twice as likely as noncontingent workers to be under 25 years
old (28 percent versus 12 percent). Of these young workers, 3 in 5 contingent workers were enrolled
in school, compared with fewer than 2 in 5 youth with noncontingent jobs. Contingent workers ages 25
to 64 were found at all levels of educational attainment. Contingent workers were about twice as
likely as noncontingent workers to have less than a high school diploma (14 percent, compared with
7 percent) and slightly more likely to hold at least a bachelor's degree (44 percent, compared with
41 percent). (See tables 1, 2, and 3.)

In May 2017, 47 percent of both contingent and noncontingent workers were women. In past surveys,
contingent workers were slightly more likely to be women than were noncontingent workers. In May
2017, contingent workers remained slightly less likely than noncontingent workers to be White (76
percent, compared with 79 percent) and much more likely to be Hispanic or Latino (22 percent, compared
with 16 percent).

Contingent workers are more likely to work part time than are noncontingent workers. In May 2017,
about 2 in 5 contingent workers worked less than 35 hours per week, compared with fewer than 1 in
5 noncontingent workers. However, the vast majority of part-time workers were not employed in contingent
arrangements.

Occupation and Industry of Contingent Workers

As in previous surveys, contingent workers were distributed throughout the major occupational groups.
In May 2017, nearly one-third of contingent workers were employed in professional and related occupations,
compared with one-fourth of noncontingent workers. Contingent workers were also more likely than their
noncontingent counterparts to work in construction and extraction occupations (11 percent and 5 percent,
respectively). Contingent workers were less likely than noncontingent workers to be employed in management,
business, and financial operations occupations (8 percent and 17 percent, respectively). (See table 4.)

By industry, about one-third of contingent workers were employed in the education and health services
industry, compared with roughly one-fourth of noncontingent workers. Contingent workers also were more
likely than noncontingent workers to be employed in the agriculture and construction industries. Contingent
workers were less likely to work in retail trade and manufacturing than were noncontingent workers.

Job Preferences of Contingent Workers

Just over half of contingent workers would have preferred a permanent job in May 2017, while one-third
preferred their contingent employment arrangement. (The remainder expressed no clear preference.) The
share of contingent workers who would have preferred a permanent job was about the same as in past surveys.
(See table 10.)

Compensation of Contingent Workers

Contingent workers earned less than their noncontingent counterparts in May 2017. Among full-time workers,
median weekly earnings for contingent workers ($685) were 77 percent of those of noncontingent workers
($886). The disparity in earnings likely reflects the many differences in the demographic characteristics
of contingent and noncontingent workers and the jobs they hold. (See table 13.)

Contingent wage and salary workers were half as likely to be covered by employer-provided health insurance
as noncontingent workers. One-fourth of contingent workers had employer-provided health insurance in May
2017, compared with half of noncontingent workers. Although most contingent workers did not receive health
insurance from their jobs, a substantial share--nearly 3 in 4--had health insurance from some source,
including coverage from another family member's policy, through a government program, or by purchasing it
on their own. Overall, contingent workers were less likely than noncontingent workers to have health
insurance coverage from any source (73 percent and 84 percent, respectively). The gap in health insurance
coverage between contingent and noncontingent workers is smaller than in 2005. (See table 9.)

Among wage and salary workers, contingent workers were about half as likely as noncontingent workers to
be eligible for employer-provided pension or retirement plans in May 2017--23 percent of contingent
workers compared with 48 percent of noncontingent workers. Overall, the proportion of contingent workers
who actually participated in employer-provided plans (18 percent) also was much lower than that of
noncontingent workers (43 percent).

Alternative Employment Arrangements

The May 2017 survey collected information on the number and characteristics of workers in four alternative
employment arrangements--independent contractors, on-call workers, temporary help agency workers, and
workers employed by contract companies.

Compared with February 2005 (the last time the survey was conducted), the proportion of the employed who
were independent contractors was lower in May 2017, while the proportions employed in the other three
alternative arrangements were little different. Workers in the four groups continued to differ significantly
from each other as well as from workers in traditional arrangements.

Independent Contractors

Independent contractors (including independent consultants and freelance workers) remained the largest
of the four alternative work arrangements. In May 2017, there were 10.6 million independent contractors,
representing 6.9 percent of total employment. This estimate is smaller than the 7.4 percent of workers
in February 2005 who were independent contractors. (See tables A and 5.)

Independent contractors are generally older than workers in other alternative and traditional arrangements.
In May 2017, more than 1 in 3 independent contractors were age 55 or older, compared with fewer than 1
in 4 workers in traditional arrangements. This reflects the fact that the likelihood of employed persons
being independent contractors increases with age. (See tables 5 and 6.)

As in past surveys, men were more likely to be independent contractors than were women; about two-thirds
of independent contractors were men in May 2017. Independent contractors also remained more likely to be
White than workers in other alternative and traditional arrangements.

Independent contractors were more likely than those in traditional arrangements to be in management,
business, and financial operations occupations; sales and related occupations; and construction and
extraction occupations. In terms of industry, independent contractors were more likely than traditional
workers to be employed in construction and in professional and business services. (See table 8.)

Independent contractors overwhelmingly prefer their work arrangement (79 percent) to traditional jobs.
Fewer than 1 in 10 independent contractors would prefer a traditional work arrangement. (See table 11.)

Only 3 percent of independent contractors were also contingent workers in May 2017--the same percentage
as workers in traditional arrangements. (See table 12.)

On-call Workers

On-call workers are defined as those who report to work only when called, although they can be scheduled
to work for several days or weeks in a row. In May 2017, there were 2.6 million on-call workers, accounting
for 1.7 percent of total employment. The demographic characteristics of on-call workers were generally
similar to those in traditional arrangements except that on-call workers were somewhat more likely to be
age 65 or older. (See tables 5 and 6.)

About 45 percent of on-call workers worked part time, a much higher proportion than either traditional
workers or workers in other alternative arrangements.

On-call workers were more likely than those in traditional arrangements to work in professional and related
occupations, service occupations, construction and extraction occupations, and transportation and material
moving occupations. By industry, on-call workers were more likely to work in education and health services
and in construction. (See table 8.)

In May 2017, 43 percent of on-call workers would have preferred to work in a traditional arrangement,
about the same percentage as preferred their alternative arrangement. Roughly 1 in 5 on-call workers was
also a contingent worker. (See tables 11 and 12.)

Temporary Help Agency Workers

In May 2017, 1.4 million workers were paid by a temporary help agency, about 0.9 percent of total
employment. As in earlier surveys, they were much more likely than workers in traditional arrangements
to be Black or Hispanic or Latino. Temporary help agency workers ages 25 to 64 were less likely than
traditional workers or workers in other arrangements to have attended college--about half of temporary
help agency workers had completed at least one year of college, compared with roughly two-thirds of those
in other alternative or traditional arrangements. About 1 in 4 temporary help agency workers had a part-time
schedule--a slightly higher proportion than for traditional workers. (See tables 5, 6, and 7.)

Temporary help agency workers were heavily concentrated in the production, transportation, and material
moving occupations and in manufacturing industries. In May 2017, 46 percent of temporary help agency workers
would have preferred a traditional job, less than the 56 percent in February 2005. In May 2017, 42 percent
of temporary help agency workers were also contingent workers, a smaller share than in past surveys. (See
tables 8, 11, and 12.)

Workers Provided by Contract Firms

The smallest of the four alternative arrangements was contract company employment, with 933,000 workers
or 0.6 percent of total employment in May 2017. These individuals work for companies that provide workers
or their services to other organizations under contract; they usually are assigned to one client at a
time and work at the client's place of business. Two-thirds of contract company workers were men, compared
with about half of traditional workers. Workers provided by contract firms were more likely to be Asian
than were traditional workers or workers in other arrangements. (See tables 5 and 6.)

In May 2017, more than one-third of contract company workers were in professional and related occupations
and one-fourth were in service occupations. Computer professionals and security guards are common occupations
for workers provided by contract firms. By industry, contract company workers were much more likely to
be employed in public administration than those in other alternative or traditional arrangements. Fifteen
percent of contract company workers were also contingent workers. (See tables 8 and 12.)

Compensation of Workers in Alternative Employment Arrangements

Among full-time workers, there was wide variation in the median earnings of those in alternative employment
arrangements relative to one another and to workers in a traditional arrangement. In May 2017, median
weekly earnings were highest for contract company workers ($1,077). Earnings for independent contractors
($851) were roughly similar to those for workers in traditional arrangements ($884), while earnings for
on-call workers ($797) and temporary help agency workers ($521) were lower. (See table 13.)

Differences in earnings for workers in the four alternative arrangements reflect, in part, variations in
the occupational distributions and the demographic characteristics of the workers. For example, contract
company workers are concentrated in professional and related occupations, which tend to be more highly
paid. On the other hand, temporary help agency workers are less likely to have attended college and are
concentrated in lower-paying production, transportation, and material moving occupations.

Workers in alternative arrangements remained less likely than workers in traditional arrangements to have
employer-provided health insurance. In May 2017, 41 percent of contract company workers had employer-provided
health insurance, compared with 28 percent of on-call workers and 13 percent of temporary help agency workers.
In contrast, 53 percent of workers in traditional arrangements received health insurance benefits through
their employers. (Estimates of employer-provided health insurance were not tabulated for independent
contractors.) (See table 9.)

Although most workers in alternative arrangements did not receive health insurance through
their jobs, a large share had health insurance from some source, including coverage from another family
member's policy, through a government program, or by purchasing it on their own. Compared with workers in
traditional arrangements (84 percent) and those employed by contract companies (85 percent), workers in
the other alternative employment arrangements were less likely to be covered by health insurance from any
source. In particular, temporary help agency workers were the least likely to have health insurance from
any source (67 percent). The likelihood of having health insurance was higher for workers in all categories
in May 2017 than in February 2005, with the largest increase among temporary help agency workers.

Eligibility for employer-provided pension or retirement plans varies across employment arrangements.
In May 2017, temporary help agency workers (13 percent) and on-call workers (35 percent) were less likely to
be eligible for employer-provided plans than were contract company workers (48 percent) or those in traditional
arrangements (51 percent). Overall, the proportions of workers in alternative arrangements who actually
participated in employer-provided plans were lower than for those in traditional arrangements. (These data
were not collected for independent contractors.)

Technical Note

The data presented in this news release were collected through a supplement to the May 2017
Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly survey of about 60,000 eligible households
that provides data on employment and unemployment for the nation. The CPS is conducted
by the U.S. Census Bureau for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The May 2017 supplement obtained information from workers on whether they held contingent
jobs--jobs that are expected to last only a limited period of time--and whether they had
alternative employment arrangements, such as working as independent contractors, as
on-call workers, through temporary help agencies, or through contract firms. Contingent
work and alternative employment arrangements are measured separately. A person in an
alternative employment arrangement may or may not be a contingent worker. Likewise, a
contingent worker may or may not be in an alternative employment arrangement.

Supplement questions were asked of all employed people except unpaid family workers.
For people holding more than one job, the questions referred to the characteristics
of their main job--the job in which they worked the most hours. The collection of
these data was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor's Chief Evaluation Office.
Additional information, including articles and archived news releases, is available online at
www.bls.gov/cps/lfcharacteristics.htm#contingent. Answers to frequently asked questions
are available online at www.bls.gov/cps/contingent-and-alternative-arrangements-faqs.htm.

Four new questions were added to the May 2017 supplement. These questions were designed
to identify individuals who found short tasks or jobs through a mobile app or website and
were paid through the same app or website. Data from these new questions are not
included in this news release. For information about these questions, see
www.bls.gov/cps/electronically-mediated-employment.htm.

Information in this news release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon
request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.

Concepts and definitions

Information about general employment and earnings concepts in the CPS is available on
the BLS website at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cps/concepts.htm.

Defining and estimating the contingent workforce. Contingent workers are those who do
not have an explicit or implicit contract for continuing employment. Several questions
are asked in the supplement to determine whether a worker's job is contingent. These
include whether the job is temporary or not expected to continue, how long the worker
expects to be able to hold the job, and how long the worker has held the job.

The key factor used to determine if workers fit the conceptual definition of contingent
is whether their job is temporary or not expected to continue. The first questions of
the supplement are:

1. Some people are in temporary jobs that last for a limited time or until the
completion of a project. Is your job temporary?

2. Provided the economy does not change and your job performance is adequate, can
you continue to work for your current employer as long as you wish?

Workers who answered either "yes" to the first question or "no" to the second are then
asked a series of questions to distinguish workers who are in temporary jobs from those
who, for personal reasons, are temporarily holding jobs that offer the opportunity of
ongoing employment. A job is defined as being short term or temporary if the person
holding it is working only until the completion of a specific project, temporarily
replacing another worker, being hired for a fixed time period, filling a seasonal job
that is available only during certain times of the year, or if other business conditions
dictate that the job is short term.

For example, a person hired for 6 months to replace a teacher on paternity leave and a
person hired to work in a company's shipping department for the holiday season would
both be considered contingent workers. In contrast, students holding jobs at fast-food
restaurants while in school might view their jobs as temporary if they intend to leave
them at the end of the school year. The jobs themselves, however, would be filled by
other workers once the students leave, and thus, the students are not contingent
workers.

Workers also are asked how long they expect to stay in their current job and how long
they have been with their current employer. Workers are asked how long they expect to
remain in their current job because being able to hold a job for a year or more could
demonstrate at least an implicit contract for ongoing employment. In other words, the
employer's need for the worker's services is not likely to end tomorrow. Similarly, the
information on how long a worker has been with their employer shows whether a job has
been ongoing. Having remained with an employer for more than a year may demonstrate
that, at least in the past, there was an explicit or implicit contract for continuing
employment.

To assess the impact of altering some of the defining factors on the estimated size of
the contingent workforce, three measures of contingent employment were developed, as
follows:

Estimate 1 is the narrowest definition of contingent work. Under Estimate 1, contingent
workers are wage and salary workers who expect to work in their current job for 1 year
or less and who have worked for their current employer for 1 year or less. All self-
employed workers--both incorporated and unincorporated--and independent contractors are
excluded from the count of contingent workers under Estimate 1. Although they may face
financial risks, people who work for themselves, by definition, have ongoing employment
arrangements. Individuals who work for temporary help agencies or contracting companies
are considered contingent under Estimate 1 if they expect their employment arrangement
with the temporary help or contracting company to last for 1 year or less and they have
worked for that company for 1 year or less.

Estimate 2 expands the definition of contingent work by including the self-employed--both
the incorporated and the unincorporated--and independent contractors who expect to be,
and have been, in such employment arrangements for 1 year or less. (The questions asked
of the self-employed are different from those asked of wage and salary workers.) In
addition, temporary help and contract company workers are classified as contingent under
Estimate 2 if they have worked and expect to work for the customers to whom they are
assigned for 1 year or less. For example, a "temp" secretary who is sent to a different
customer each week but has worked for the same temporary help agency for more than 1 year
and expects to be able to continue with that agency indefinitely is contingent under
Estimate 2, but not under Estimate 1. In contrast, a "temp" who has been assigned to a
single client for more than a year and expects to be able to stay with that client for
more than a year is not counted as contingent under either estimate.

Estimate 3 is the broadest definition of contingent work--people who do not expect their
jobs to last--and the focus of the analysis in this news release. Estimate 3 expands the
definition of contingent work further by removing the 1-year requirement on both expected
duration of the job and current tenure for wage and salary workers. The estimate includes
all wage and salary workers who do not expect their employment to last, except for those
who, for personal reasons, expect to leave jobs that they would otherwise be able to
keep. Thus, a worker who has held a job for 5 years could be considered contingent if he
or she now views the job as temporary. The 1-year requirement on expected and current
tenure is retained for the self-employed and independent contractors.

Defining alternative employment arrangements. Alternative employment arrangements are
determined by the workers' relationship to their employer. To provide estimates of the
number of workers in alternative employment arrangements, the supplement includes
questions about whether individuals are paid by a temporary help agency or contract
company, or whether they are on-call workers or independent contractors. (The survey
also includes questions about day laborers. Estimates for day laborers are not presented
as a separate category of alternative arrangements in this news release because the group is
very small. They are included in estimates of total employment.)

Contingent work, which is determined by expectations about the duration of a person's
job, is a separate concept from alternative employment arrangements. Some workers are
both contingent and working in an alternative arrangement, but this is not automatically
the case.

Definitions of the four main alternative employment arrangements follow, as well as the
key questions used to identify workers in each category:

Independent contractors are those who are identified as independent contractors,
consultants, or freelance workers in the supplement, regardless of whether they are
identified as wage and salary workers or self-employed in the basic CPS labor force
status questions. To distinguish independent contractors from business operators such
as a restaurant owner, the supplement includes a question for workers who identified as
self-employed (incorporated and unincorporated) in the basic CPS that asks, "Are you
self-employed as an independent contractor, independent consultant, freelance worker, or
something else (such as a shop or restaurant owner)?" Those identified as wage and salary
workers in the basic CPS are asked, "Last week, were you working as an independent contractor,
an independent consultant, or a freelance worker? That is, someone who obtains customers
on their own to provide a product or service." Nearly 9 in 10 independent contractors are
self-employed. Conversely, 3 in every 5 self-employed workers are independent contractors.

On-call workers are called into work only when they are needed. This category includes
workers who answer "yes" to the question, "Some people are in a pool of workers who are
ONLY called to work as needed, although they can be scheduled to work for several days
or weeks in a row, for example, substitute teachers and construction workers supplied by
a union hiring hall. These people are sometimes referred to as ON-CALL workers. Were you
an ON-CALL worker last week?" Individuals with regularly scheduled work, which might include
periods of being "on call" to perform work at unusual hours, such as medical residents,
are not included in this category.

Temporary help agency workers are those who are paid by a temporary help agency. This
category includes workers who say their job is temporary and answer "yes" to the question,
"Are you paid by a temporary help agency?" Also included are workers who say their job
is not temporary and answer affirmatively to the question, "Even though you told me your
job is not temporary, are you paid by a temporary help agency?" Temporary help agency
workers include both the permanent staff of the agencies and those who are placed with
other companies in temporary assignments.

Workers provided by contract firms are those who work for a contract company, usually
work for only one customer, and usually work at the customer's worksite. This refers
to individuals who are employed by firms who contract out their workers or their workers'
services, rather than all workers employed by firms that provide services under contract,
such as advertising agencies and law firms. This category includes workers who answer
"yes" to the question, "Some companies provide employees or their services to others
under contract. A few examples of services that can be contracted out include security,
landscaping, or computer programming. Did you work for a company that contracts out you
or your services last week?" These workers also responded "no" to the question, "Are you
usually assigned to more than one customer?" Finally, these workers responded "yes" to
the question, "Do you usually work at the customer's worksite?"

Comparability of the estimates

The concepts of contingent work and alternative employment arrangements used in the May
2017 survey are the same as those collected in the past. The questions used to identify
these workers were essentially unchanged from past surveys. However, there are a few issues
that could affect the comparability of these estimates with those from prior years.
The prime concern is that the 2017 supplement was collected in May and earlier surveys were
conducted in February of 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, and 2005. The seasonality of contingent
jobs and alternative employment arrangements is not known. However, any seasonality may affect
the size and composition of the contingent workforce and people working in alternative
employment arrangements. For example, a seasonal job that is only available at a certain
time each year counts as a contingent job. The number and types of these kinds of jobs
available in February and May might be different.

Two tables in this news release present slightly different displays of data than prior
releases. Table 13 of this news release contains usual weekly earnings estimates for workers in
noncontingent and traditional arrangements, which were omitted from the February 2001 and
2005 news releases. Earnings for noncontingent and traditional workers were not collected in
February 2001 and 2005. Earnings for such workers had been published in earlier news releases.

The estimates of workers eligible for employer-provided pension or retirement plans in
table 9 of this news release are not strictly comparable with those of earlier years because
the May 2017 estimates exclude all self-employed workers and independent contractors. In
previous years, some of these workers were included in the estimates.

Other data presented in this news release are not strictly comparable with those for earlier
years due to several other methodological issues. Comparability of estimates over time
is affected by the introduction of population controls and changes in the classification
of industries and occupations. Additional information about comparability of data over
time is available at www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm.

Reliability of the estimates

Statistics based on the CPS are subject to both sampling and nonsampling error. When a
sample, rather than the entire population, is surveyed, there is a chance that the sample
estimates may differ from the true population values they represent. The component of
this difference that occurs because samples differ by chance is known as sampling error,
and its variability is measured by the standard error of the estimate. There is about a
90-percent chance, or level of confidence, that an estimate based on a sample will differ
by no more than 1.6 standard errors from the true population value because of sampling
error. BLS analyses are generally conducted at the 90-percent level of confidence.

The CPS data also are affected by nonsampling error. Nonsampling error can occur for many
reasons, including the failure to sample a segment of the population, inability to obtain
information for all respondents in the sample, inability or unwillingness of respondents
to provide correct information, and errors made in the collection or processing of the
data.

Information about the reliability of data from the CPS and guidance on estimating standard
errors is available at www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#reliability.

Table 1. Employed contingent and noncontingent workers by selected characteristics, May 2017
(In thousands)
Characteristic	Total employed	Contingent workers			Noncontingent workers
Characteristic	Total employed	Estimate 1	Estimate 2	Estimate 3	Noncontingent workers
AGE AND SEX
Total, 16 years and over	153,331	1,958	2,511	5,858	147,473
16 to 19 years	4,842	316	330	501	4,340
20 to 24 years	14,212	567	647	1,110	13,102
25 to 34 years	33,991	472	616	1,419	32,572
35 to 44 years	32,065	271	392	992	31,073
45 to 54 years	32,745	175	285	817	31,928
55 to 64 years	26,236	116	179	680	25,556
65 years and over	9,240	41	62	338	8,902
Men, 16 years and over	81,545	1,062	1,349	3,085	78,461
16 to 19 years	2,365	166	180	271	2,093
20 to 24 years	7,412	310	340	560	6,852
25 to 34 years	18,169	274	376	853	17,316
35 to 44 years	17,585	144	196	503	17,082
45 to 54 years	17,099	94	139	408	16,691
55 to 64 years	13,840	65	94	337	13,503
65 years and over	5,076	10	23	152	4,924
Women, 16 years and over	71,785	896	1,162	2,773	69,012
16 to 19 years	2,477	150	150	230	2,247
20 to 24 years	6,800	257	306	550	6,250
25 to 34 years	15,823	198	240	566	15,257
35 to 44 years	14,480	127	196	489	13,991
45 to 54 years	15,646	81	146	408	15,238
55 to 64 years	12,396	51	85	343	12,053
65 years and over	4,164	31	39	186	3,977
RACE AND HISPANIC OR LATINO ETHNICITY
White	120,638	1,451	1,885	4,428	116,211
Black or African American	18,588	225	295	742	17,846
Asian	9,110	182	224	445	8,665
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity	25,525	435	538	1,299	24,225
FULL- OR PART-TIME STATUS
Full-time workers	125,240	1,051	1,349	3,466	121,774
Part-time workers	28,091	907	1,162	2,391	25,699
NOTE: Noncontingent workers are those who do not fall into any estimate of "contingent" workers. Estimates for the above race groups (White, Black or African American, and Asian) do not sum to totals because data are not presented for all races. Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. Detail for other characteristics may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Table 2. Distribution of employed contingent and noncontingent workers by selected characteristics, May 2017
(Percent distribution)
Characteristic	Contingent workers			Noncontingent workers
Characteristic	Estimate 1	Estimate 2	Estimate 3	Noncontingent workers
AGE AND SEX
Total, 16 years and over	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
16 to 19 years	16.2	13.1	8.6	2.9
20 to 24 years	29.0	25.8	18.9	8.9
25 to 34 years	24.1	24.5	24.2	22.1
35 to 44 years	13.8	15.6	16.9	21.1
45 to 54 years	8.9	11.4	13.9	21.7
55 to 64 years	5.9	7.1	11.6	17.3
65 years and over	2.1	2.5	5.8	6.0
Men, 16 years and over	54.2	53.7	52.7	53.2
16 to 19 years	8.5	7.2	4.6	1.4
20 to 24 years	15.8	13.6	9.6	4.6
25 to 34 years	14.0	15.0	14.6	11.7
35 to 44 years	7.3	7.8	8.6	11.6
45 to 54 years	4.8	5.6	7.0	11.3
55 to 64 years	3.3	3.7	5.7	9.2
65 years and over	0.5	0.9	2.6	3.3
Women, 16 years and over	45.8	46.3	47.3	46.8
16 to 19 years	7.7	6.0	3.9	1.5
20 to 24 years	13.1	12.2	9.4	4.2
25 to 34 years	10.1	9.6	9.7	10.3
35 to 44 years	6.5	7.8	8.3	9.5
45 to 54 years	4.2	5.8	7.0	10.3
55 to 64 years	2.6	3.4	5.9	8.2
65 years and over	1.6	1.5	3.2	2.7
RACE AND HISPANIC OR LATINO ETHNICITY
White	74.1	75.1	75.6	78.8
Black or African American	11.5	11.8	12.7	12.1
Asian	9.3	8.9	7.6	5.9
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity	22.2	21.4	22.2	16.4
FULL- OR PART-TIME STATUS
Full-time workers	53.7	53.7	59.2	82.6
Part-time workers	46.3	46.3	40.8	17.4
NOTE: Noncontingent workers are those who do not fall into any estimate of "contingent" workers. Estimates for the above race groups (White, Black or African American, and Asian) do not sum to totals because data are not presented for all races. Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. Detail for other characteristics may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Table 3. Employed contingent and noncontingent workers by school enrollment and educational attainment, May 2017
(Percent distribution)
Characteristic	Contingent workers			Noncontingent workers
Characteristic	Estimate 1	Estimate 2	Estimate 3	Noncontingent workers
SCHOOL ENROLLMENT
Total, 16 to 24 years (thousands)	884	977	1,611	17,442
Percent	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Enrolled in school	60.1	59.2	61.6	35.7
Not enrolled in school	39.9	40.8	38.4	64.3
Less than a high school diploma	3.3	3.8	4.6	5.3
High school graduates, no college(1)	12.5	13.5	13.9	27.7
Some college or associate degree	15.3	14.9	11.5	19.5
Bachelor's degree and higher(2)	8.9	8.6	8.3	11.7
EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT
Total, 25 to 64 years (thousands)	1,034	1,472	3,908	121,129
Percent	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Less than a high school diploma	13.0	13.1	13.5	7.0
High school graduates, no college(1)	23.8	21.2	22.1	25.2
Some college or associate degree	23.4	24.5	20.9	27.2
Bachelor's degree and higher(2)	39.8	41.2	43.5	40.6
(1) Includes persons with a high school diploma or equivalent. (2) Includes persons with bachelor's, master's, professional, and doctoral degrees.
NOTE: Noncontingent workers are those who do not fall into any estimate of "contingent" workers. Detail may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Table 4. Employed contingent and noncontingent workers by occupation and industry, May 2017
(Percent distribution)
Characteristic	Contingent workers			Noncontingent workers
Characteristic	Estimate 1	Estimate 2	Estimate 3	Noncontingent workers
OCCUPATION
Total, 16 years and over (thousands)	1,958	2,511	5,858	147,473
Percent	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Management, professional, and related occupations	31.0	33.3	39.1	40.7
Management, business, and financial operations occupations	5.6	7.4	7.9	17.2
Professional and related occupations	25.4	25.9	31.2	23.5
Service occupations	18.2	18.8	17.1	17.2
Sales and office occupations	20.7	18.0	16.2	21.5
Sales and related occupations	5.1	5.2	4.9	10.1
Office and administrative support occupations	15.5	12.8	11.3	11.4
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations	15.1	15.8	15.3	9.0
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations	3.5	2.7	2.7	0.7
Construction and extraction occupations	11.0	11.5	10.6	5.0
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	0.6	1.6	2.0	3.2
Production, transportation, and material moving occupations	14.9	14.1	12.2	11.6
Production occupations	4.9	4.6	4.6	5.8
Transportation and material moving occupations	10.0	9.5	7.7	5.8
INDUSTRY
Total, 16 years and over (thousands)	1,958	2,511	5,858	147,473
Percent	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Agriculture and related industries	4.5	4.0	3.2	1.6
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction	0.4	0.3	0.2	0.5
Construction	9.6	10.9	10.8	6.7
Manufacturing	6.5	5.8	6.3	10.6
Wholesale trade	1.5	1.1	1.0	2.3
Retail trade	8.5	8.1	6.2	10.7
Transportation and utilities	3.8	5.5	4.1	5.1
Information	1.6	1.5	1.6	1.9
Financial activities	1.9	2.3	2.6	7.1
Professional and business services	12.7	16.3	14.9	12.0
Education and health services	29.1	25.3	31.3	22.7
Leisure and hospitality	12.1	10.1	9.3	9.3
Other services	5.2	6.7	5.3	4.9
Public administration	2.7	2.1	3.3	4.7
NOTE: Noncontingent workers are those who do not fall into any estimate of "contingent" workers. Detail may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Table 5. Employed workers with alternative and traditional work arrangements by selected characteristics, May 2017
(In thousands)
Characteristic	Total employed	Workers with alternative arrangements				Workers with traditional arrangements
Characteristic	Total employed	Independent contractors	On-call workers	Temporary help agency workers	Workers provided by contract firms	Workers with traditional arrangements
AGE AND SEX
Total, 16 years and over	153,331	10,614	2,579	1,356	933	137,853
16 to 19 years	4,842	43	107	25	14	4,647
20 to 24 years	14,212	330	263	195	53	13,370
25 to 34 years	33,991	1,593	516	303	224	31,361
35 to 44 years	32,065	2,160	565	283	207	28,849
45 to 54 years	32,745	2,562	446	276	206	29,263
55 to 64 years	26,236	2,426	399	170	124	23,110
65 years and over	9,240	1,500	283	105	106	7,253
Men, 16 years and over	81,545	6,820	1,355	709	625	72,035
16 to 19 years	2,365	42	53	20	9	2,235
20 to 24 years	7,412	187	169	100	28	6,931
25 to 34 years	18,169	1,016	271	170	157	16,554
35 to 44 years	17,585	1,430	329	122	144	15,557
45 to 54 years	17,099	1,611	208	166	146	14,971
55 to 64 years	13,840	1,547	209	81	81	11,914
65 years and over	5,076	986	117	50	60	3,873
Women, 16 years and over	71,785	3,794	1,224	647	308	65,818
16 to 19 years	2,477	1	55	5	5	2,412
20 to 24 years	6,800	143	94	95	25	6,439
25 to 34 years	15,823	577	245	133	67	14,807
35 to 44 years	14,480	730	237	161	63	13,292
45 to 54 years	15,646	951	238	110	60	14,292
55 to 64 years	12,396	878	190	88	44	11,196
65 years and over	4,164	514	166	55	45	3,380
RACE AND HISPANIC OR LATINO ETHNICITY
White	120,638	8,975	2,019	797	614	108,237
Black or African American	18,588	880	323	351	132	16,902
Asian	9,110	461	129	104	115	8,297
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity	25,525	1,566	449	345	163	22,973
FULL- OR PART-TIME STATUS
Full-time workers	125,240	7,485	1,428	1,042	785	114,496
Part-time workers	28,091	3,129	1,151	314	148	23,357
NOTE: Workers with traditional arrangements are those who do not fall into any of the "alternative arrangements" categories. Detail may not add to totals because the total employed includes day laborers (an alternative arrangement, not shown separately) and there are a small number of workers who were both "on call" and "provided by contract firms." Estimates for the above race groups (White, Black or African American, and Asian) do not sum to totals because data are not presented for all races. Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. Detail for other characteristics may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Table 6. Distribution of employed workers with alternative and traditional work arrangements by selected characteristics, May 2017
(Percent distribution)
Characteristic	Workers with alternative arrangements				Workers with traditional arrangements
Characteristic	Independent contractors	On-call workers	Temporary help agency workers	Workers provided by contract firms	Workers with traditional arrangements
AGE AND SEX
Total, 16 years and over	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
16 to 19 years	0.4	4.2	1.9	1.5	3.4
20 to 24 years	3.1	10.2	14.4	5.6	9.7
25 to 34 years	15.0	20.0	22.3	23.9	22.7
35 to 44 years	20.4	21.9	20.9	22.2	20.9
45 to 54 years	24.1	17.3	20.3	22.1	21.2
55 to 64 years	22.9	15.5	12.5	13.3	16.8
65 years and over	14.1	11.0	7.7	11.3	5.3
Men, 16 years and over	64.3	52.5	52.3	67.0	52.3
16 to 19 years	0.4	2.0	1.5	1.0	1.6
20 to 24 years	1.8	6.5	7.4	3.0	5.0
25 to 34 years	9.6	10.5	12.5	16.8	12.0
35 to 44 years	13.5	12.7	9.0	15.4	11.3
45 to 54 years	15.2	8.1	12.2	15.7	10.9
55 to 64 years	14.6	8.1	6.0	8.6	8.6
65 years and over	9.3	4.5	3.7	6.5	2.8
Women, 16 years and over	35.7	47.5	47.7	33.0	47.7
16 to 19 years	0.0	2.1	0.4	0.5	1.7
20 to 24 years	1.3	3.7	7.0	2.6	4.7
25 to 34 years	5.4	9.5	9.8	7.1	10.7
35 to 44 years	6.9	9.2	11.8	6.8	9.6
45 to 54 years	9.0	9.2	8.1	6.4	10.4
55 to 64 years	8.3	7.4	6.5	4.7	8.1
65 years and over	4.8	6.4	4.1	4.9	2.5
RACE AND HISPANIC OR LATINO ETHNICITY
White	84.6	78.3	58.8	65.8	78.5
Black or African American	8.3	12.5	25.9	14.1	12.3
Asian	4.3	5.0	7.7	12.3	6.0
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity	14.8	17.4	25.4	17.4	16.7
FULL- OR PART-TIME STATUS
Full-time workers	70.5	55.4	76.9	84.1	83.1
Part-time workers	29.5	44.6	23.1	15.9	16.9
NOTE: Workers with traditional arrangements are those who do not fall into any of the "alternative arrangements" categories. Estimates for the above race groups (White, Black or African American, and Asian) do not sum to totals because data are not presented for all races. Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. Detail for other characteristics may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Table 7. Employed workers with alternative and traditional work arrangements by school enrollment and educational attainment, May 2017
(Percent distribution)
Characteristic	Workers with alternative arrangements				Workers with traditional arrangements
Characteristic	Independent contractors	On-call workers	Temporary help agency workers	Workers provided by contract firms	Workers with traditional arrangements
SCHOOL ENROLLMENT
Total, 16 to 24 years (thousands)	373	370	220	67	18,018
Percent	100.0	100.0	100.0	-	100.0
Enrolled in school	22.6	39.8	14.0	-	38.5
Not enrolled in school	77.4	60.2	86.0	-	61.5
Less than a high school diploma	7.1	9.8	13.6	-	5.0
High school graduates, no college(1)	37.0	17.9	43.9	-	26.2
Some college or associate degree	22.0	24.6	17.6	-	18.7
Bachelor's degree and higher(2)	11.3	7.9	11.0	-	11.5
EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT
Total, 25 to 64 years (thousands)	8,741	1,926	1,031	761	112,582
Percent	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Less than a high school diploma	9.7	10.6	10.5	4.0	6.9
High school graduates, no college(1)	24.6	26.7	37.1	27.4	25.0
Some college or associate degree	26.8	28.8	26.0	25.4	27.0
Bachelor's degree and higher(2)	38.9	33.9	26.3	43.1	41.1
(1) Includes persons with a high school diploma or equivalent. (2) Includes persons with bachelor's, master's, professional, and doctoral degrees.
NOTE: Workers with traditional arrangements are those who do not fall into any of the "alternative arrangements" categories. Detail may not sum to totals due to rounding. Dash indicates no data or data that do not meet publication criteria (values not shown where base is less than 75,000).

Table 8. Employed workers with alternative and traditional work arrangements by occupation and industry, May 2017
(Percent distribution)
Characteristic	Workers with alternative arrangements				Workers with traditional arrangements
Characteristic	Independent contractors	On-call workers	Temporary help agency workers	Workers provided by contract firms	Workers with traditional arrangements
OCCUPATION
Total, 16 years and over (thousands)	10,614	2,579	1,356	933	137,853
Percent	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Management, professional, and related occupations	43.4	35.6	21.7	49.1	40.7
Management, business, and financial operations occupations	23.9	5.3	4.6	13.9	16.7
Professional and related occupations	19.5	30.3	17.1	35.1	24.0
Service occupations	18.1	23.7	13.8	24.6	17.0
Sales and office occupations	16.0	11.3	19.3	6.5	22.0
Sales and related occupations	13.5	4.5	2.8	2.4	9.8
Office and administrative support occupations	2.5	6.8	16.5	4.1	12.1
Natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations	15.9	16.1	6.1	13.3	8.5
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations	0.4	1.2	0.4	0.4	0.8
Construction and extraction occupations	12.1	11.7	3.4	8.8	4.5
Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	3.3	3.2	2.2	4.0	3.2
Production, transportation, and material moving occupations	6.7	13.2	39.2	6.6	11.8
Production occupations	1.7	2.6	19.8	2.2	6.0
Transportation and material moving occupations	5.0	10.6	19.3	4.4	5.8
INDUSTRY
Total, 16 years and over (thousands)	10,614	2,579	1,356	933	137,853
Percent	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Agriculture and related industries	2.0	1.8	0.4	0.4	1.6
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction	0.1	0.8	0.6	1.6	0.5
Construction	19.3	11.4	3.6	7.2	5.8
Manufacturing	2.2	3.7	32.2	12.0	11.1
Wholesale trade	1.5	1.1	3.6	1.0	2.3
Retail trade	6.4	6.0	1.2	3.2	11.1
Transportation and utilities	5.7	8.6	3.0	6.6	5.0
Information	2.2	2.3	1.9	2.0	1.9
Financial activities	9.6	3.4	4.2	8.5	6.9
Professional and business services	25.1	6.6	26.8	17.0	10.7
Education and health services	9.6	35.3	15.0	18.3	24.0
Leisure and hospitality	6.2	10.1	2.0	4.4	9.6
Other services	9.7	4.6	3.1	2.5	4.6
Public administration	0.4	4.2	1.2	14.7	5.0
NOTE: Workers with traditional arrangements are those who do not fall into any of the "alternative arrangements" categories. Detail may not sum to totals due to rounding. For temporary help agency workers and workers provided by contract firms, the industry classification is that of the place to which they were assigned. For a very small percentage of these workers, the industry was not provided.

Table 9. Employed contingent and noncontingent workers and those with alternative and traditional work arrangements by health insurance coverage and eligibility for employer-provided pension or retirement plans, May 2017
Characteristic	Total employed (thousands)	Percent with health insurance coverage		Percent eligible for employer- provided pension or retirement plan(1)
Characteristic	Total employed (thousands)	Total	Provided by employer(1)	Total	Included in employer-provided plan
Contingent workers:
Estimate 1	1,958	75.1	13.4	14.2	8.3
Estimate 2	2,511	72.2	12.0	12.2	7.3
Estimate 3	5,858	73.4	25.1	23.4	18.4
Noncontingent workers	147,473	83.5	49.8	47.6	43.4
With alternative arrangements:
Independent contractors	10,614	75.4	-	-	-
On-call workers	2,579	77.0	28.2	35.4	30.1
Temporary help agency workers	1,356	67.3	12.8	12.7	6.6
Workers provided by contract firms	933	85.3	41.3	48.1	38.3
With traditional arrangements	137,853	84.0	53.4	50.8	46.3
(1) Excludes the self-employed (incorporated and unincorporated) and independent contractors.
- Not applicable. NOTE: Noncontingent workers are those who do not fall into any estimate of "contingent" workers. Workers with traditional arrangements are those who do not fall into any of the "alternative arrangements" categories.

Table 10. Employed contingent workers by their preference for contingent or noncontingent work arrangements, May 2017
(Percent distribution)
Preference	Contingent workers
Preference	Estimate 1	Estimate 2	Estimate 3
Total, 16 years and over (thousands)	1,958	2,511	5,858
Percent	100.0	100.0	100.0
Prefer noncontingent employment	62.5	58.8	55.1
Prefer contingent employment	29.9	31.8	32.8
It depends	7.0	8.5	9.5
Not available	0.6	0.9	2.6
NOTE: Noncontingent employment refers to work that does not fall into any estimate of "contingent" workers. Detail may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Table 11. Employed workers with alternative work arrangements by their preference for a traditional work arrangement, May 2017
(Percent distribution)
Preference	Independent contractors	On-call workers	Temporary help agency workers
Total, 16 years and over (thousands)	10,614	2,579	1,356
Percent	100.0	100.0	100.0
Prefer traditional arrangement	8.8	43.0	46.4
Prefer alternative arrangement	79.1	43.8	38.5
It depends	7.5	12.2	12.1
Not available	4.5	1.0	3.0
NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals due to rounding.

Table 12. Employed workers with alternative and traditional work arrangements by contingent and noncontingent employment, May 2017
Arrangement	Total (thousands)	Percent distribution
		Contingent workers			Noncontingent workers
		Estimate 1	Estimate 2	Estimate 3	Noncontingent workers
With alternative arrangements:
Independent contractors	10,614	-	3.2	3.2	96.8
On-call workers	2,579	7.7	7.8	21.1	78.9
Temporary help agency workers	1,356	16.8	22.9	42.0	58.0
Workers provided by contract firms	933	3.6	5.1	15.0	85.0
With traditional arrangements	137,853	1.0	1.1	3.1	96.9
- Not applicable. Excludes independent contractors and the self-employed (incorporated and unincorporated). NOTE: Noncontingent workers are those who do not fall into any estimate of "contingent" workers. Workers with traditional arrangements are those who do not fall into any of the "alternative arrangements" categories.

Table 13. Median usual weekly earnings of full- and part-time contingent and noncontingent wage and salary workers and those with alternative and traditional work arrangements by sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, May 2017
Characteristic	Contingent workers			Noncontingent workers	Workers with alternative arrangements				Workers with traditional arrangements
Characteristic	Estimate 1	Estimate 2	Estimate 3	Noncontingent workers	Independent contractors	On-call workers	Temporary help agency workers	Workers provided by contract firms	Workers with traditional arrangements
FULL-TIME WORKERS
Total, 16 years and over	$592	$611	$685	$886	$851	$797	$521	$1,077	$884
Men	609	653	719	957	897	860	522	1,157	953
Women	524	587	625	808	738	673	520	673	809
White	568	595	702	914	895	814	511	1,118	913
Black or African American	602	609	581	699	654	748	520	740	697
Asian	956	995	1,042	1,153	990	-	1,058	1,519	1,147
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity	467	475	524	686	700	676	492	964	685
PART-TIME WORKERS
Total, 16 years and over	197	197	228	257	333	229	263	322	255
Men	187	186	233	262	377	295	297	-	256
Women	206	205	224	255	307	211	246	303	254
White	199	198	229	266	342	236	257	339	264
Black or African American	160	160	203	221	294	182	252	-	224
Asian	262	262	269	222	487	213	-	-	215
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity	220	221	264	254	272	316	305	-	253
Dash indicates no data or data that do not meet publication criteria (values not shown where base is less than 75,000). NOTE: Noncontingent workers are those who do not fall into any estimate of "contingent" workers. Workers with traditional arrangements are those who do not fall into any of the "alternative arrangements" categories. Earnings data for contingent and noncontingent workers exclude the incorporated self-employed and independent contractors. Data for independent contractors include the incorporated and unincorporated self-employed; these groups, however, are excluded from the data for workers with other alternative and traditional arrangements. Full- or part-time status is determined by hours usually worked at sole or primary job. Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.

Last Modified Date: June 07, 2018