The Evolution of the Demand for Temporary Help Supply Employment in the United States

No 7427, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: The Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported an extraordinary increase in temporary help supply (THS) employment during the late 1980s and the 1990s. However, little is known about the venues where these THS employees actually work. Our estimates indicate that the proportion of THS employees in each major American industry, except the public sector, increased during 1977-97. By 1997, close to 4 percent of the employees in manufacturing and services were THS workers. In the service sector, the increase was accompanied by a large increase in direct hires. In manufacturing, however, it was accompanied by a decline in direct hiring from its peak in 1989 even though output increased substantially in the 1990s. Practically, all of the growth in THS employment is attributed to a change in the hiring behavior of firms, rather than to a disproportional increase in the size of more THS-intensive industries.

JEL-codes: J20 J40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1999-12
Note: LS PR
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

Published as Carre, Francoise et al. (eds.) Nonstandard work: The nature and challenges of changing employment arrangements, Industrial Relations Research Association Series. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, ILR Press, 2000.

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Working Paper: The evolution of the demand for temporary help supply employment in the United States (1999)
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