Alternative and Part-Time Employment Arrangements as a Response to Job Loss

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I examine the extent to which workers who lose jobs find work in alternative employment arrangements including temporary work and independent contracting and find part-time work, both voluntary and involuntary. The analysis is based on data from the Displaced Worker Supplements (DWS) and the February 1994 and 1996 Current Population Surveys (CPS) which I match to the Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements Supplements (CAEAS) to the February CPSs in the subsequent years (1995 and 1997 respectively). I find that job losers are significantly more likely than non-losers to be in temporary jobs (including on-call work and contract work). I also find evidence that the likelihood of temporary employment falls with time since job loss. With regard to part-time employment, I find that involuntary part-time employment is an important part of the employment experience subsequent to job loss and that the likelihood of involuntary part-time employment falls with time since job loss, particularly for full-time job losers. Thus that temporary and involuntary part-time jobs are part of a transitional process subsequent to job loss leading to regular full-time employment.

Published: JLE, Vol. 17, no. 4, part 2 (October 1999): S142-S169.

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