Free-Lance Nation: Why Temping Is Permanent

By Julie Rawe with reporting by Linda Berlin/Oakland, Kristin Kloberdanz/Chicago and Laura A. Locke/San Francisco

To the uninitiated, the concept of free-lancing might evoke words like freedom and flexibility. But those in the trenches often employ a different F word. "I live in constant fear," says Alicia Nieva-Woodgate, a former public-relations executive in San Francisco, who had to kiss health insurance goodbye and these days is struggling just to pay the rent. For the past two years, this thirtysomething has been juggling as many as six free-lance projects at a time while taking on survival jobs like handing out Pepsi samples in Wal-Mart. "I'm barely scraping by," says Nieva-Woodgate, who commanded a six-figure salary during the tech boom. And, she adds, if landing free-lance work sounds tough, try getting paid for it: "You're such a small fry, companies pay you whenever the hell they feel like it."

This is life in Free-lance Nation, where an estimated 1 in 4 workers are cobbling together a living outside the bounds of full-time employment--either through contract work, part-time jobs, temp assignments or some combination of the three. The recession has led to an increase in what Jared Bernstein, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, calls "involuntary entrepreneurs," people like Nieva-Woodgate, who would much prefer to have a full-time job.

The bad news for these 9-to-5 wannabes is that cost-cutting companies are relying more on just-in-time staffing, which translates into fewer permanent positions and more disposable workers. The good news--or rather, the less depressing news--is that temporary-staffing firms are picking up some of corporate America's slack and duplicating much of the infrastructure--and benefits--typically associated with working for the Man.

"As a culture, we have an almost religious belief against nonpermanence," says Carl Camden, president of Kelly Services, a leading global-staffing firm. But layoffs and forced early retirements are helping Americans see through "the myth of lifetime employment," he says. And like it or not, transiency has become a part of our culture, as Big Business continues to develop labor plans that include more and more temps. Over the past decade, the number of temporary or contract workers has doubled to about 2 million, and these temps are doing as much manufacturing as clerical work.

The staffing industry has become increasingly specialized, creating niche firms for temporary doctors, nurses, accountants, engineers, IT consultants, legislative aides, even personal assistants for celebrities. Despite such tailorization, the uncertainty and volatility for the individual temp workers remain. "You have no guarantee of tomorrow," says Allan Thompson, 48, a state-and local-tax specialist in Dayton, Ohio, who signed on with a temporary accounting-services firm this spring. "But people could arguably say there's no guarantee when you have a full-time job either."

To be sure, many workers thrive in this feast-or-famine environment. "I've worked for companies where I had to do the same thing day after day," says Ron Lefkon, 62, a temporary CFO with Tatum Partners in New York City, who swoops in only when a company is in crisis. "I'm having much more fun now." But for the self-employed, being a Lone Ranger can feel downright desolate when there's no employer to contribute half of your Social Security tax or a tech department to help out when your computer malfunctions. The lack of health insurance is particularly distressing. Even group rates from nonprofits like Working Today, a free-lancers' union based in New York City, cost individuals $287 per month (or a daunting $857 if you have a spouse and a child).

Above all, there's constant pressure to line up the next project. "You feel like you're treading water," says Barkley Anderson, 34, a graphic designer in Chicago who was laid off three summers ago. Anderson is making a bit more money than he did at his last job, but he is working twice as hard. A few months ago he started sending out his resume for a full-time gig. --By Julie Rawe, with reporting by Linda Berlin/Oakland, Kristin Kloberdanz/Chicago and Laura A. Locke/San Francisco