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In February 2005, there were 10.3 million independent contractors, 2.5 million on-call workers, and 1.2 million temporary help agency workers.
These types of workers are considered to have alternative employment arrangements, in contrast to traditional arrangements.
The majority of independent contractors (82 percent) preferred their work arrangement to a traditional job, while only 32 percent of temporary help agency workers preferred their current arrangement. Among on-call workers, 46 percent preferred their current arrangement while 45 percent would prefer a traditional job.
These data are from a supplement to the February 2005 Current Population Survey. The percentages on the chart for each group do not sum to 100, because in some cases the worker response was "It depends" and in other cases a response was not available. To find out more, see Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements, February 2005, news release USDL 05-1433.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Alternative employment arrangements and worker preferences at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2005/aug/wk1/art04.htm (visited October 31, 2024).