Paul Osterman, "Disposable Workers: The Transformation of Employment" (Harvard UP, 2026)

A revealing look at the decline in formal employment in favor of

hiring contractors, freelancers, temps, and marginal workers, who are

excluded from traditional benefits and career ladders.

Companies cannot exist without workers, but they are increasingly

reluctant to have employees. Instead of providing the benefits and

protections that have traditionally come with employee status,

businesses are turning to tactics that let them treat people as

interchangeable parts, to be used and discarded as needed. Drawing on an

original survey of over 6,000 workers, Disposable Workers: The Transformation of Employment (Harvard University Press, 2026) reveals

the striking extent of this transformation across the occupational

hierarchy, affecting everyone from janitors to nurses.

Paul Osterman identifies three distinct categories of disposable