The Rise and Nature of Alternative Work Arrangements in the United States, 1995-2015. Lawrence F. Katz, Harvard University and NBER and Alan B. Krueger, Princeton University and NBER. First Draft: March 29, 2016 This Draft: September 13, 2016
Abstract: “To monitor trends in alternative work arrangements, we conducted a version of the Contingent Worker Survey as part of the RAND American Life Panel in late 2015. The findings point to a significant rise in the incidence of alternative work arrangements in the U.S. economy from 2005 to 2015. The percentage of workers engaged in alternative work arrangements –defined as temporary help agency workers, on-call workers, contract workers, and independent contractors or freelancers – rose from 10.7 percent in February 2005 to 15.8 percent in late 2015. The percentage of workers hired out through contract companies showed the largest rise, increasing from 1.4 percent in 2005 to 3.1 percent in 2015. Workers who provide services through online intermediaries, such as Uber or Task Rabbit, accounted for 0.5 percent of all workers in 2015. About twice as many workers selling goods or services directly to customers reported finding customers through offline intermediaries than through online intermediaries.”

• “We find that 94% of net job growth in the past decade was in the alternative work category” [Krueger] “And over 60% was due to the [the rise] of independent contractors, freelancers and contract company workers.”