Russell Senate Office Building (Room 385) 2 Constitution Ave. NE Washington, D.C.
Jun 12, 2018
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM (GMT-5)
Host:
Aspen Institute's Future of Work Initiative
How has work changed in the last decade?
According to the recently released 2017 Contingent Worker Supplement (CWS), the number of Americans relying on alternative work arrangements for their main job has held steady since 2005 – the last time these numbers were collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Given the extensive economic and technological change we have seen over the past 13 years, what can we learn from these new numbers?
The Aspen Institute's Future of Work Initiative hosted a briefing to highlight and discuss the CWS findings and their implications on June 20. The CWS measures how many workers are in contingent and alternative work arrangements, including independent work, temp-agency work, and contract-firm work – arrangements that are sometimes referred to as the "gig economy."
The recent numbers – 10.1 percent of workers are in alternative arrangements as their main job – are informative, but also raise many questions and highlight the need for more and better data collection. We lack information on supplemental work, how people find their jobs, and how companies structure employment – information necessary in order to develop policies that address the challenges of today’s workers.
CEPR Co-Director Eileen Appelbaum participated in the briefing. For more information, visit the event site.
