Changing workforce
Joyce Fetteroll
I know when I pictured Kathryn working in the future my imagination tended to focus on traditional full-time jobs. (Even though Carl doesn't have one! ;-) That idea tends to limit options since it's tied to the good-grades, good-college, good-job rat race type of thinking.
There was an article in today's NY Times that says almost 1/3 of the workers in the US don't have those kinds of jobs. I thought that was fascinating and might help others to think outside a future 9-5 job box for their kids.
"Today, some 42 million people � about a third of the United States work force � do not have jobs in the traditional sense. They fall into a catchall category the government calls �contingent� workers. These people � independent contractors, freelancers, temp workers, part-timers, people between jobs � typically work on a project-to-project basis for a variety of clients ..."
(The rest of the article's about how the Freelancers Union can provide affordable health care when no one else seems able to which is somewhat relevant to thinking about kid futures, but the quote was what caught my eye:
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/?p=114325 )
Joyce
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
There was an article in today's NY Times that says almost 1/3 of the workers in the US don't have those kinds of jobs. I thought that was fascinating and might help others to think outside a future 9-5 job box for their kids.
"Today, some 42 million people � about a third of the United States work force � do not have jobs in the traditional sense. They fall into a catchall category the government calls �contingent� workers. These people � independent contractors, freelancers, temp workers, part-timers, people between jobs � typically work on a project-to-project basis for a variety of clients ..."
(The rest of the article's about how the Freelancers Union can provide affordable health care when no one else seems able to which is somewhat relevant to thinking about kid futures, but the quote was what caught my eye:
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/?p=114325 )
Joyce
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
-=-"Today, some 42 million people ˜ about a third of the United States work force ˜ do not have jobs in the traditional sense. They fall into a catchall category the government calls "contingent" workers. These people ˜ independent contractors, freelancers, temp workers, part-timers, people between jobs ˜ typically work on a project-to-project basis for a variety of clients ..."-=-
Did they say whether this was new or different from the past?
Lots of people work seasonal jobs--construction, or Christmas retail, or Halloween spook-house/costume sales, or Christmas tree farming and sales, or florists shops that just kind of exist but make their year's worth of money in the Spring, for Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and school proms. Then they hang out until the next Spring (some of the smaller shops, anyway).
There are accountants and bookkeepers who work a lot between January and April (in the U.S., and there might be similar fiscal/tax seasons in other places), and make enough to cruise a while.
We're getting two cords of firewood in a few days, which we do every year and a half or so. That business has a busy season (first snow here was a couple of days ago; we still have wood, but there are always families who have just moved to their house and didn't think about using the fireplace until their butts started to freeze).
I show, statistically, as a business, though it's not a business-license-and-building situation, but it's personal income, self-employed, on the taxes. Some years I lose money and some years I make $2000, and because of Keith's income level, we give a bunch to the government.
People who have garage sales are supposed to report all that income. People who barter paintings for dental work are supposed to report the market value of the painting and pay taxes. I know they're supposed to, and that would be considered contingency work, I guess.
Sandra
Did they say whether this was new or different from the past?
Lots of people work seasonal jobs--construction, or Christmas retail, or Halloween spook-house/costume sales, or Christmas tree farming and sales, or florists shops that just kind of exist but make their year's worth of money in the Spring, for Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and school proms. Then they hang out until the next Spring (some of the smaller shops, anyway).
There are accountants and bookkeepers who work a lot between January and April (in the U.S., and there might be similar fiscal/tax seasons in other places), and make enough to cruise a while.
We're getting two cords of firewood in a few days, which we do every year and a half or so. That business has a busy season (first snow here was a couple of days ago; we still have wood, but there are always families who have just moved to their house and didn't think about using the fireplace until their butts started to freeze).
I show, statistically, as a business, though it's not a business-license-and-building situation, but it's personal income, self-employed, on the taxes. Some years I lose money and some years I make $2000, and because of Keith's income level, we give a bunch to the government.
People who have garage sales are supposed to report all that income. People who barter paintings for dental work are supposed to report the market value of the painting and pay taxes. I know they're supposed to, and that would be considered contingency work, I guess.
Sandra
Pam Sorooshian
<<<On Sun, Dec 4, 2011 at 6:35 AM, Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...>wrote:
Did they say whether this was new or different from the past?
contingent worker, along with about 75 percent of the other faculty at the
college where I have taught for 26 years. That's not new at all.
-pam
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Did they say whether this was new or different from the past?
>>>I have worked at the same temporary part-time job for many years. I am a
contingent worker, along with about 75 percent of the other faculty at the
college where I have taught for 26 years. That's not new at all.
-pam
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