Disturbing trend of more temporary workers

The New York Times highlights a disturbing trend that has occurred during the Great Recession: the greater percentage of workers being hired as temporary employees instead of permanent ones. Temporary workers often get lower wages, have little or no benefits, less job security, and less chance of promotion and a lasting career.

This is obviously bad news in the short term, but the possibility that this could be a long term feature of the economy is even more troubling. Unfortunately, Japan provides an example of exactly this occurring.

To make matters worse, unemployed workers who get employed by shifting careers often end up with lower wages and a less satisfying job. This all goes to show that the Great Recession is not just a dire crisis for the unemployed, but also a crisis for many employed workers as well.