Content provided in partnership with

new breed, The

ASEE Prism, Sep 2000 by Cohen, Warren

A growing number of engineers are taking the freelance route, contracting themselves out for short-term assignments-often to the highest bidder.

In his 25 years as an engineer, Michael Harper has never held a steady job. On the other hand, he has never lacked for work. As a contract engineer specializing in aerospace, Harper has traveled around the country taking assignments lasting anywhere from a few months to five years. His jobs have taken him to Boeing in Seattle, Grumman in Long Island, and countless other firms that needed his expertise but didn't want to add another body to the payroll. For his part, Harper likes the diversity of assignments and higher pay he accrues as a contract worker. "I'm not interested in direct employment," he says. "Hopefully I can retire sooner than I could if I were some 30-year guy at the same place."

Most Popular Articles in Reference: The importance of understanding organizational culture; Credit card attitudes and behaviors of college students; What factors attract foreign direct investment?; Libraries Need Relationship Marketing - mutual interest marketing concept, ...; How to set performance goals: employee reviews are more than annual critiques; More »

Contract or contingent workers once went by a less formal name: temporary workers. And still, when most people think of such employees, it calls to mind secretaries or day laborers, who fill in at a company for a period of a few days. But increasingly in the new economy, technology and computerization allow firms to staff more precisely, depending on their immediate needs. As a result, contract workers have become an increasingly important part of the employment landscape.

The use of contract workers has grown fivefold since the 1980s, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The percentage of the workforce employed by temp agencies has climbed from 0.5 percent in 1982 to 2.3 percent in 1999. Add in other types of temps, such as self-styled independents and freelance workers, and the figure soars to 10 percent. Include parttimers, and the number of "nonstandard" employees in the economy rises to about 26 percent of the workforce.

Engineers are a growing part of this trend. Although the Labor Department doesn't break out engineering as a separate category, 21.7 percent of all professional specialty and technicians are contingent workers-and 32.4 percent of contingent workers are college graduates, more than any other educational level. Manpower Professional, a division of Manpower International, the nation's largest temporary employment service, reports that its skilled employee division is growing at 15 to 20 percent a year, faster than the company as a whole. Says Ben Elliott, a recruiter

with Manpower Professional in Charlotte, North Carolina, Engineers make up 40 percent of our office personnel, which also includes other professional services like information technology and telecommunications."

Increasingly, engineering educators are making students aware of the realities of the new workplace. With entrepreneurial careers on the increase, engineering faculty members need to help their students develop entrepreneurial skills so they can benefit fully from America's new economy. One of the key aspects of the ABET 2000 criteria is to produce graduates with more than just technical skills.

It's somewhat paradoxical that with the national economy so strong, temporary employment continues to rise. After all, with low unemployment rates and a constant need for highly skilled workers, it would seem that engineers especially could demand regular staff positions. But the trend shows no sign of abating. Last year, 70 percent of businesses surveyed by the American Management Association reported having replaced some permanent workers with temps. Roughly two thirds said they planned to increase contingent staffing in the next five years.

WINNERS AND LOSERS

On the surface, contract employment seems like a win-win situation for everyone involved. Companies sensitive to the bottom line who don't want to pay for permanent workers they don't need year round save money both on salaries and benefits. (Worker benefits make up roughly 27 percent of total compensation today, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.) Workers gain flexibility and freedom they may not otherwise have as regular staff and get higher salaries. Engineering companies and workers say that pay can run about 15 to 20 percent higher than for full-time employees. Many workers locate jobs through agencies firms that pay benefits, and according to the Department of Labor, roughly 40 percent of contingent workers, like aerospace engineer Michael Harper, prefer the arrangement.

Of course, these advantages are balanced by the ever-present uncertainty of temporary work. These include the possibility of being released at any moment, not having the same access to promotions as fulltime workers, and missing out on some of the new economy's employment perks, like stock options.

Chuck Whitehurst has seen both sides of the issue. When the Houston-area resident got his first job as a pipe designer for a chemical company 11 years ago, he was on the permanent staff. But with the up and down cycles of the oil and chemical industry, Whitehurst saw that he had no more protection from the vagaries of layoffs than the temps. "With reductions in force, direct employees had as little security as contingent workers," he says. "Seniority didn't matter anymore, only performance, so contractors sometimes were kept on while direct employees were let go."

new breed, The

ASEE Prism, Sep 2000 by Cohen, Warren

Find Research Guides for:

Find Featured Titles for: Reference

Most Popular Articles in Reference

Most Popular Publications in Reference