Marginal Jobs

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Marginal Jobs
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• Definition
• Marginal occupations
• Marginal employers
• Extent and trends

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Marginal Occupations

• Marginal jobs are those that contain one or more
  of the following characteristics
• Illegal or morally suspect
• Underemployment
• Fewer hours than desired, low wages, no benefits

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Marginal Occupations

• Work is unattractive
• What makes a job attractive or unattractive?
• Wages and work conditions

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Marginal Employers

• Employers in periphery industries
• Suppliers and small businesses
• Hodson and Sullivan client firms
• Seasonal markets, products
• Intense competition

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Marginal Employees

• Race, gender, and age
• Do marginal jobs train workers to have low work
  ethic?

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Fastest Growing Jobs

• Temps and contract workers

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Temporary and Contract Work

• Temporary and contract workers
• Up to 10 of work force  
• No benefits, job security

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• Most temporary work is in
• Secretarial, assembly, non-skilled labor, truck
  driving positions
• New high growth areas

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• Robert Half Legal provides project teams for a
  wide range of initiatives, including litigation
  support and discovery.

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The Ground War at FedEx

• Several dozen lawsuits against FedEx by angry
  drivers claiming it classifies 14,000 of its
  drivers as independent contractors
• Wear FedEx uniforms, work routines, no benefits
  or security
• (Business Week, Nov. 28, 2005)

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Microsoft and Temporary Workers

• Class action suit filed in 1993 against Microsoft
  by 6,000 permatemps
• Microsoft lost, settled for 97 million in 2001
• DOL brought cases against

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• Chrysler hires all-temps third shift at its
  Illinois plant
• The Detroit News (Friday, June 16, 2006)