Americans are Growing More "Flexible" About Taking Temp Jobs

Here is a companion article to the one I posted this morning about the insidious idea of the whole workforce being made into temporary workers. The Consumerist posted a brief story last week which included a bunch of blandly stated statistics about how Americans are now embracing the idea of taking temporary jobs like never before:

With about a half-decade of a blah economy and weak employment, Americans are growing more amenable to taking temporary employment, changing their viewpoint from the glass-half-empty opinion of "it's a job without permanence" to "it's a job that may lead to something permanent one day."

This is according to the latest Workplace Insights Survey from the folks at Adecco, which found that 63% of Americans now look at temp jobs more positively than they did last year, while 86% believe that a temp gig is a viable option for someone who wants to gain work experience.

That was really about all there was to the story. There wasn't any attempt to place the poll data into the larger context of people obviously becoming more desperate for jobs and willing to accept whatever they can get.

I have some pretty strong opinions on this subject, of course, but instead of just repeating myself yet again I'd rather call attention to some of the more insightful reader comments that accompanied the article:

u1itn0w2day: Workers become more flexible when the companies they work for require them to bend over further and further every day.

squinko: Problem is a lot of employers don't like that attitude. They want an indentured servant mindset when interviewing for the very mediocre job. They want you to think that you will have a lifetime of employment with them. A career with them. Neither of which they have any business at all promising or implying that you will get it.

Mark702: No benefits, no raises, little or no opportunity for advancement, this is the new American economy. Thanks Bush 2 and Bush 3 (aka Obama).

The Twilight Clone: The only way to create jobs is to give people like Mitt Romney a tax break. A Republican told me so.

coffee100: Management has won. They have succeeded in cutting your pay, stripping you of your benefits, destroying your job security, increasing your stress and dissatisfaction at your job and treating you like a caged animal day to day. They get away with it because there is a ready supply of sycophants there to shout you down when you complain.

sponica: career? what is a career? how does one change careers if one lacks a career?

RandomHookup: The headline is a bit reminiscent of "Drunk Men Far Less Selective at Closing Time".

retailriter: The problem is, the companies want the same loyalty and work ethic out of employees as though they are paying them decent wages, benefits, and providing job security.

dolemite: Yeah, it's all great people hop between jobs, but guess what? Temp jobs have few or no benefits, no retirement, and no stability. So people might be able to pay their bills in the mean time, but what does it mean for their future?

ShinGetterPoPo: I'm following the thank god I have a job method. Until I get enough money to pay the bills properly again, I'll take what I can get.

Invictus: If we continue mindlessly voting with our money for the cheapest "appearing" option we will eventually become more of a third world country. We are already on our way, thanks to all politicians who value multinationals corporations over people.

Tiercelet: Your job went to China because Chinese people will work in slave-labor conditions (getting rousted out of bed at 1 AM from your at-the-factory dormitory to work back-to-back 12-hour shifts) and the Chinese government will provide all needed infrastructural, R&D, and facilities-construction funding.

Yes, it would appear that despite all of the mainstream media obfuscation, the real truth about our economic predicament is slowly dawning upon more and more people. Just how long it will take that awareness to reach a tipping point is anyone's guess.


Bonus: Bill's very funny bit on bosses