Trends in Occupations - Independent Contractors: Where Do We Work?

The chart shows the number of independent contractors employed in the various occupations for February 1999. Overall, more men are independent contractors than women, but they do not make up the majority of the workforce in each occupational category. However, they make up the majority in occupations that traditionally employ more men than women. A striking example is in the precision production, craft, and repair field, where there were over 1.4 million men working as independent contractors, while only 95,000 women worked in this same field as independents. But women make up a sizeable proportion of independent contractors in the professional specialty; sales; and executive, administrative, and managerial fields. In the administrative support, clerical, and service occupations, women workers are dominant.

The table on the next page shows the percentage of employees working in the various occupations. The percentage division within the independent contractor work arrangement does not always correspond to the percentage division within the traditional work arrangement. For the most part, employees in traditional work arrangements are evenly distributed among the various occupational categories. Independent contractors, however, are mostly concentrated in the executive, administrative, and managerial; professional specialty; sales; and precision production, craft, and repair fields.

Percentage of Workforce: Independent Contractors vs. Traditional Employees

Occupation	Independent Contractor (%)	Traditional Employees (%)
Executive, administrative, managerial	20.5	14.5
Precision production, craft, and repair	18.9	10.5
Professional specialty	18.5	15.5
Sales occupations	17.3	12.0
Service occupations	8.8	13.7
Operators, fabricators, and laborers	7.0	13.6
Farming, forestry, and fishing	4.4	2.0
Administrative support, incl. clerical	3.4	15.0
Technicians and related support	1.1	3.3

In the next panel we look at the income of independent contractors.

Source: DiNatale, Marisa. "Characteristics of and preference for alternative work arrangements, 1999." Monthly Labor Review, March 2001.