The massive layoffs piling up in corporate America paint a harrowing picture of a maimed economy, but the job-cut numbers reported by struggling companies are really just a snapshot of the recession’s carnage.
As they hand out pink slips to thousands of full-time workers, major employers are also jettisoning temporary workers and outside contractors who handle a wide range of jobs — everything from programming computers to scrubbing toilets.
Just how many temporary workers are getting swept out in corporate housecleanings is unclear, largely because regulators don’t require the same disclosures as they typically do when at least 50 full-time workers are let go. (There were 21,137 of these mass layoffs recorded last year, up from 15,493 in 2007.)
The looser rules have allowed prominent employers like Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. to trim contractors and temporary workers without quantifying how many people are being shown the door.
The phenomenon has happened in other downturns, but never to this extent, said Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at California State University, Channel Islands.
The main reason: Employers have been relying increasingly more on temporary, or “contingent,” workers during the past two decades to save money on payroll taxes and benefits. Analysts believe the trend will accelerate in the years ahead. If it does, even more people may be forced to accept temporary jobs even after the economy recovers.
Here are some questions and answers about the temporary work force and how the recession is affecting it.
Q: How many people go to work every week without being classified as a full-time worker?
A: Nearly one-third of the work force — about 42.6 million people, according to a 2006 report from the U.S. General Accountability Office. About 21.5 million of these workers either specialized in temporary assignments, were independent contractors or were self-employed.
Q: How many of these contingent workers…