Got nonstandard?

Classifying today’s workers can make your head spin.

As a society, we like to name and categorize things. It helps us make sense of a chaotic world. When we see a baby, we want to know if it’s a boy or a girl–even though the bald blob of human can’t talk or do anything remotely “girly” or “manly.” When we can’t put people in neat categories, we freak out a bit. (Consider the controversy surrounding South African runner, Caster Semenya.)

Categorizing workers has long been the domain of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the government department charged with tracking the U.S. labor force. They’re the ones responsible for producing the unemployment figures we trumpet and debate endlessly.

In exploring the world of coworking, I’ve discovered just how damn confusing and important the task of categorizing workers has become. Follow along to figure out where you fit in. Step one: deep breath.

Next, are you “standard” or “non-standard”? If you are employed full-time by one employer, and have a formal contract that you expect will last at least one year, congratulations, you are normal. If, not, don’t fret, you’re not alone. In fact, the sheer quantity and scope of nonstandard employment in today’s work force is pretty striking, accounting for an estimated 33% of all employment in the U.S.

On we go. Are you a “contingent” or  an “alternative” worker? The first conjures up images of migrant farmworkers–though, technically, anyone who doesn’t have a contract for ongoing work and expects their current job will last for less than a year qualifies–and the latter, I don’t know, maybe an employee with piercings?

Actually, alternative workers include independent contractors, consultants, freelancers, on-call workers, temps, and workers provided by contract firms. You can be self-employed and/or a wage or salary worker. According to February 2005 current population survey data (the most recent BLS data available), 14.8 million workers, or about one in 10 employees, fall into the alternative arrangement category, including 10.3 million independent contractors, 2.5 million on-call workers, 1.2 million temporary help agency workers, and 813,000 workers provided by contract firms. 
These numbers have almost certainly risen during the Great Recession. Hello, permatemps.

One difficulty with accounting for the nonstandard workforce is, well, that they’re not very standard. At the coworking establishment I’ve been frequenting in LA, a web designer might be a freelancer one month and an independent contractor working for just one company the next. Or a non-profit consultant slash on-call actor slash frequenter of temp agencies during rough times.

But the most confusing categorization I’ve encountered here is for small business owners, which the BLS categorizes as employees of their own firms and therefore standard workers. In some ways, this makes sense. Some of the independent workers I’ve met at “LAco” really see themselves as business owners, even if they don’t have employees or even an LLC to tack on. This sense of identity as a business owner is especially the case if they feel like they’re responsible for generating employment for others, even indirectly, like a talent manager getting actors work or a production company of one outsourcing to other freelancers.

On the other hand, sole proprietors and even start-ups with a few employees (more commonly, contractors that are “1099′d”) have needs more aligned with nonstandard than standard employees. Both “alternative” workers and small business owners are drawn to coworking spaces like LAco; both may lack the resources necessary to start and maintain an office of their own. Both have to secure their own health insurance and rarely have access to unemployment benefits. They may be taxed at higher rates than standard employees and have fewer resources in dealing with non-payment from clients.

The Freelancer’s Union is actively addressing some of the issues nonstandard workers face. But they’re limited by geography (though they successfully fought against the Unincorporated Business Tax for freelancers in New York City, my sense is that they don’t have the resources to wage similar campaigns across the country) and, perhaps more importantly, by their own target audience. Divergent self-identities–freelancer vs. consultant vs. creative vs. business owner–keep about a third of the workforce from realizing they’re in a pretty similar, shoddy, safety-net-less boat.

- Liz