The New American Job

The temporary jobs are good supplements to the regular jobs in our life,but i think people prefer a regular job,i mean to a regular person.We want our insurance covered,we want the wage be paid every month or week,we donot want to losing the job in the coming morning,and begin to seek a new job,which we donot know where it is,people want to be settled down,and have a regular life. But thing's changing,30 years ago,mostly only man was working outside,meanwhile woman holding house at home,and what man's salary could afford all the family expend,and even had some saving. But now,couple have to work outside both,and even more ironical,there are not so many jobs for us.So the "job" pick us,not we pick them.Do we really want to the part-time job dominate in our life--i donot think so,we have the most the time is just sitting in front of pc to wait the employing email coming.

When you said this, you nailed it. Thanks - really helps when you identify a reality that I experience every day.: "You have to bring in a project and then the project ends, and then you have to bring in another project," says Challenger. "That can be a difficult time. It can make you doubt yourself when you might be good." And, I sure hope Horowitz keeps plugging for us. I am extremely grateful for people like her.

I wanted to say thanks for writing this article. I do a little bit of everything to make rent. I'm a single mom too. I woke up this morning feeling depressed because my online business isn't doing so well and I mostly rely on that for spending money or groceries. Sometimes I feel like I'm chasing my own tail and jumping through hoops like a circus to make money. Your article is the first that Iv'e read in awhile that made me realize that yeah this last week was #$%^!!! But, maybe this next one will be better.

Returning to a cottage indusry economy may not just be a great thing, it's prob'ly a necessity.

I've had a civil service job for over 25 years. I'm low echelon, earning way, way under what that top 50% make. For 15 years, I've also been a publishing freelancer because when I retire--I won't be able to manage my civil service job forever--I'm going to need to be able to make up the difference between my pension plus social security and my civil service salary. So I work towards cobbling together an income that allows for more than dog food, plus a myriad of drug prescriptions. My biggest issue, as with all worker bees today, is medical insurance. I'm lucky, with a family plan my employer contributes to; it's still numbingly expensive, more than $200 per month out of my paycheck, plus ever-rising co-pays.

God help me if a new co-worker hadn't encouraged me, 25 years ago, to find a hobby or something I could stand to do after 5 PM that would supplement my day-job income. Actually, God did help me by giving me the luck to meet that co-worker, the sense to pay attention, and work ethic to pound it out. It would be nice if the tax system were a little less punitive???how it feels with the double dose of social security/unemployment taxes, etc.

A company's main interest is making all the money it can. At the cost of providing a workspace, and the necessesary tools, plus various coverages, at-home workers seem to be the new wave. People will still try to make claims about costs of doing business, and try to weasel out what they can. the employer is no different.
Bottom line: Quit needing/wanting so much. Gen-Whatevers can make or break us. Do the right thing is not an issue, it's always do whats right for me. Too many me's.

I hear lots of complaints here, but no solutions. Does anyone know of a coop type insurance for part-time workers? My daughter just graduated from college and is now working part-time (20hrs/wk, $10/hr). She is on my COBRA ($380/month). Her rent is $375/mth and her car payment is $145, plus a $80 per month for car insurance.

Let's see: $866 - 375 -145 - 80 = leaves $246 for food, gas, and insurance. Obivously she can't afford $380 per month for health insurance.

Young people are so screwed! She is just lucky that she can fall back on me for now. I don't know how any young person without a safety net makes it--drugs, prostitution, theft?

Well now...do all the politicians and wealthy Americans really care about our survival? Oh, please. They don't have to worry about healthcare, rent, utilities, mortgages, student loan repayments, education--you name it. Who the heck can survive this catastrophic disaster? I'll take part time work, if I can find it. So big deal, I am already into bankruptcy, but can't afford a lawyer to help me file. Medical bankruptcy? You betcha. Over 50? You betcha. Someltimes, I long for the life my parents had. I never saw them calling a social service daily to help with a utility bill. Never mind education or social class--this economy does not discriminate. My heart goes out to all. May we continue to love our families and keep strong.

What American Dream? Now it is how do I survive everyday without worrying 24/7 as to where the money will comefrom. I have been unable to secure ANY full time jobs in almost 4 year. I am over 50 and you know what that means--a double whammy. Right now I am working witbh the local United Way agency to get help with utilities, rent, food, etc. They are bombarded with calls. Let's hire some folks to help with the demand. If that isn't enough, how about those credit card companies--I now tell them right up front: "I have no job and I have no money. Please don not call again" So much for my education, experience and attention to caring for others. Throw me a lifeline. I don't care what package is approved, just give some relief to Americans immediately. I suppose we'll have to wait until the end of time.

It is time for more rights and policy benefits for working stiffs.
The last 10 years have been the decade of business and the super wealthy.
This decade belongs to us.

Your article is most timely!

It is my fear that as we continue to see an upswing in the unemployment rate and many seeking other sources to replace or supplement incomes, we will see more scams promising easy money for a price of course.

If it???s to good to be true, most likely it is!

In the freelance world your will find that most work at home jobs that charge a fee are scams and many true work at home job???s can be found on the internet for free! See www.extramoneysolutions.com

An issue that is front burner for the "new economy" worker is access to and funding for health benefits. Traditional group health insurance plans are simply too inflexible to offer an affordable way to provide coverage for many part-timers, because the only options for the employer are pay a full premium or pay nothing. The in-between part is suboptimal at best, as if part-timers do get access to a company's health plan the worker is required to contribute 50% or more for a plan they did not choose. Innovative companies are looking at new options to provide benefits in a way that works well for the employee and the employer. One method is an employer-funded account that separates the funding decision from the spending decision so employers can offer a financial contribution to on a monthly basis for full-time workers and an hourly basis for part-timers. The employees get to choose individual plans that best suit them and typically cost less than equivalent group coverage. The best of these health benefits offerings have fully-funded accounts that employees can take with them from job-to-job if they save money in the account. These are NOT HSA's, which restrict you to a high-deductible health policy that many people really don't want. And the best of the best of these offerings actually gives the employee the ability to obtain contributions from multiple employers, for people that have more than one job or the 50%+ of the families in the United States that have two working spouses.

There's little comfort or security in times where the infrastructure of economics is buckling under the weight of its former glory. There's an element of "Darwinism" that makes Capitalism work, which is to weed out inefficiencies. The challenge is that the current social infrastructure can't support the people who are investing their time and energies (or money) into making Capitalism work. It's a major contraction of resources that have people and business running scared. Consumers are spending less, ergo, businesses reduce their overhead as a result in the drop in demand. It can culminate in the elimination of excess, real or perceived, across all systems of the economy - especially the systems that are designed to make a profit, and those that designed to serve the needs of the society.

Where do indepedent contractors fit in? They have the potential to fulfill the needs of business' operations - potential being a key word. The ones who will be able to survive are the ones who are going to be able to provide a service that results in a tangible, real benefit. It's similar to when one goes on a job interview. The goal is to convince the upper echelons of a business that your particular skill set is going to have a real benefit to their bottom line.

Of course this spells a certain alphabet soup of trouble for those who don't have those particular skills sets. What's a person to do? Education seems like a reasonable course to trek upon but only if the education received has transferrable value to the systems currently in place. Entrepreneuership? It's the lifeblood of innovation and we need more of it. There are many fabulous ideas that never get implemented because they represent paradigms shifts that appear too painful to absorb. (Think renewable energy and the impact it would have on the entire petroleum industry - think of all the depdendent systems that would be impacted, all the jobs. . .)

Could indepedent contractors be the future? I believe that's just the start. What we may be in fact seeing is a new incarnation of a barter system where people trade goods and services. One problem though: energy. Unless we can figure out to be self-sufficient for the energy required to power our homes, cars, iPods, computers and whatever else we depend on technologically, we will all be cogs in the wheel, whether you want to be or not.

I would like to see to see a health insurance package that works for people in part time positions or working for small businesses.

What this really means is a return to the days of utter poverty for laborers of all stripes. If you're not in the "ownership" class, then you're going to be poor. I say it's well deserved since today's workers see no value in supporting their fellow worker in a union. Poverty for you and at least your kids before another generations finds the courage to stand on its own two feet and demand a fair wage for a fair day's work. You fools, your wages have been stagnant for almost 40 years! Hey, idiots, I was making $7.35 an hour running a hot press in 1962, some 47 years ago. I could support my wife and kids quite well on that job and you have to have two jobs and you're still poor. Gutless fools who deserve what you're getting. You voted in Bush, you believe in being a coward and giving up freedoms for a pretense of security, in violating all of mankind's civil rights, the first nation in 400 years that rejected the precepts of the Magna Carta, You deserve poverty and now you'll get it. Gutless uneducated cowards.deserve what they get.