A New Kind of Worker: The “Supertemp”

As the average time that workers stay with one employer steadily decreases, a new kind of worker has risen to prominence – the “supertemp.” These employees are highly educated, highly-skilled employees that accept work assignments on a temporary basis, often working as an independent contractor and never staying with a company for very long —the national average of time an employee will typically work with a company is 4.6 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Independent Contractors Trusted with Mission-Critical Projects

What makes supertemps unique is that they are top managers and professionals—from lawyers to CFOs to consultants—that occupy a space somewhere between permanent employees and outside consultants. They can offer the same high-level consulting and professionalism of an outside firm, but often for a fraction of the cost due to lower overhead and operational cost. Most are coming from larger corporations and law and consulting firms who enjoy the autonomy and flexibility afforded to temporary workers. For many, the project-based work offers compensation comparable to what they earned in a full-time job—sometimes even better. And this has led to high levels of personal satisfaction: a comprehensive survey of U.S. independent professionals conducted by MBO Partners found that nearly 80 percent of independent workers are satisfied with their situation, including 58 percent who are highly satisfied.

Lessening the Stigma of Frequent Job Changes

While economic stagnation has forced many workers into low-paid, insecure “permatemp” roles across all industries, the stigma over freelancing and frequent job switching has been significantly lessened. With nearly 54 million people in America identifying as freelancers, this spells good news for employees looking to venture out on their own—and companies are taking note. “Companies follow the talent,” wrote Jody Greenstone Miller of the Harvard Business Review. “So as growing numbers of professionals decide that they prefer to work on a temporary basis, organizations are finding ways to work with them. The prevalence of lean management teams, the post-recession drive to cap costs, and the accelerating pace of change combine to make temporary solutions compelling. These new arrangements have also spread because the surge in outsourcing and consulting in recent years has accustomed managers to thinking about work, including high-end work, in modular ways.

An Ever Growing Market

Advances in communications and project management technology make it easy to plug these temporary workers in, while the elimination of many corporate benefits programs makes this trend increasingly appealing. With minor changes like offering independent, portable health coverage, amending tax rules that negatively impact independent contractors and tweaking HCM systems, Miller speculates that the market for supertemps is poised to “explode.”