Temp Economy

Everyone knows that work in America is not what it used to be. Layoffs, outsourcing, contingent work, disappearing career ladders-these are the new workplace realities for an increasing number of people. But why? In The Temp Economy, Erin Hatton takes one of the best-known icons of the new economy-the temp industry-and finds that it is more than just a symbol of this degradation of work. The temp industry itself played an active role in this decline-and not just for temps. Industry leaders started by inventing the "e;Kelly Girl,"e; exploiting 1950s gender stereotypes to justify low wages, minimal benefits, and chronic job insecurity. But they did not stop with Kelly Girls. From selling human"e;business machines"e; in the 1970s to "e;permatemps"e; in the 1990s, the temp industry relentlessly portrayed workers as profit-busting liabilities that hurt companies' bottom lines even in boom times. These campaigns not only legitimized the widespread use of temps, they also laid the cultural groundwork for a new corporate ethos of ruthless cost cutting and mass layoffs. Succinct, highly readable, and drawn from a vast historical record of industry documents, The Temp Economy is a one-stop resource for anyone interested in the temp industry or the degradation of work in postwar America.