The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released Nonstandard and Contracted Work Arrangements, a study looking at nonstandard work arrangements by U.S. companies.
As the study chart below shows, 33% of firms responding to the 2020 Annual Business Survey reported they used contractors, subcontractors, independent contractors, or outside consultants.
These results are not surprising.
IRS data shows that there's been a long-term shift to contract labor by small businesses. And many studies show that a majority of big companies use contingent labor.
Echoing those studies, the GAO also sampled annual financial reports submitted by S&P 500 companies in 2021.
They found that 89% of the companies in their sample mentioned using contractors in their annual reports.
The shift to nonemployee labor by firms large and small has been going on for years. It's a trend we are forecasting to continue.
