Work in the Precarious Economy   /   Spring 2016   /    Work In The Precarious Economy

The Self-Assembled Career

Carrie M. Lane

Illustration (detail) by Christopher Corr/Getty Images.

Making ends meet with side jobs.

Much has been lost by American workers over the past half century. Layoffs have become more common. Secure full-time jobs with ample benefits have increasingly been replaced by part-time, contract, and contingent positions offering low pay, insecurity, limited mobility, and few if any benefits. The unions that once advocated on behalf of workers have lost many members and much of their efficacy. Corporate profits have become delinked from job growth. Even economic recoveries are now “jobless.”

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