Temp

Temp traces the rise of temporary and contingent work in America from the 1950s through today. The book examines how consulting firms, temp agencies, and Silicon Valley companies transformed traditional employment into flexible labor arrangements. The narrative follows key figures and organizations that shaped this evolution, including the founders of Manpower, McKinsey consultants, and early Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Through extensive research and interviews, Hyman reconstructs how business leaders reimagined work relationships and corporate structures. The book moves through decades of economic and technological change, showing how each era brought new pressures and opportunities that gradually shifted risk from companies to individual workers. The focus remains on the deliberate decisions and structural changes that created today's gig economy. This history reveals how temporary work went from a marginal practice to a central feature of modern capitalism. The transformation of American labor emerges not as an inevitable result of technology, but as the product of specific choices made by business leaders, consultants, and policymakers over several decades.

Readers find Temp offers a fresh perspective on the evolution of temporary work and its impact on the American economy. Positive reactions focus on Hyman's detailed research and historical examples, particularly stories about Kelly Girls and early Silicon Valley. Many readers appreciate how the book connects past labor trends to current gig economy issues. One reader noted it "helps explain why my children's work lives are so different from mine." Common criticisms include dense academic writing style and occasional repetitiveness. Several readers mention the book loses focus in later chapters when discussing modern tech companies. Some feel it doesn't fully address solutions to workplace instability. Ratings: Goodreads: 3.9/5 (185 ratings) Amazon: 4.3/5 (46 ratings) A typical Amazon review states: "Important history but gets bogged down in academic language." The highest-rated Goodreads review praises the "thorough examination of how we got to today's unstable job market" while critiquing the "sometimes dry economic analysis."

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📚 The word "temp" originated in 1928 when Katharine Gibbs and Emily Hahn started lending out their secretarial students as temporary workers in New York City. 💼 Author Louis Hyman is a professor at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations and previously worked as a Fulbright scholar in Kenya. 🏢 The rise of temp work paralleled the rise of computing, as early word processors and computers were first tested by temp workers before companies would commit to purchasing them. ⚖️ By the 1990s, Manpower (a temp agency) had become the largest private employer in America, surpassing General Motors, which had held that position since the 1950s. 📊 The book reveals how consulting firm McKinsey & Company played a crucial role in normalizing temporary work arrangements by advising companies to view workers as variable rather than fixed costs.