How 35% of US employees are left on the margins

Phys · 🇺🇸 public United States · Aug 18, 2026 · 1207 words · By Peter Dizikes

Labor Economics Corporate Profit Maximization Worker Precariousness

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What to know about Labor Economics

The article discusses a new book by MIT professor Paul Osterman titled 'Disposable Workers,' which examines the rise of 'marginal workers' and other non-permanent employment roles in the U.S. Osterman argues that firms utilize these roles to reduce labor costs and increase flexibility, often at the expense of worker stability and career advancement.

Propaganda risk 20%

Claims checked 12

Techniques found 1

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center83%

Right17%

6 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

How 35% of US employees are left on the margins Robert Egan Senior Editor You've heard of gig workers, freelancers and temporary employees.

Why it matters

jobs, it's a huge category of people who are going nowhere fast in the workplace—and don't really have much say about that.

Common ground

"Marginal workers are employees who have no career prospects at their organizations," says MIT professor emeritus Paul Osterman, author of a new book on the subject.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Labor Economics story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Osterman scrutinizes this employment landscape in his new book, "Disposable Workers: The Transformation of Employment," published this month by Harvard University Press?
How does this story connect Labor Economics with Corporate Profit Maximization over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-08-employees-left-margins.html

analyticsAnalysis

20%

Propaganda Score

confidence: 95%

Minor concerns. Some persuasive language detected, but largely factual.

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 80% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 12 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 3

info Single Source 3

verified Verified By Reference 2

schedule Pending 2

help Insufficient Evidence 2

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Claim 1: “Osterman scrutinizes this employment landscape in his new book, "Disposable Workers: The Transformation of Employment," published this month by Harvard University Press.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources (Harvard University Press, MIT Personal Faculty, and Porchlight Book Company) confirm that Paul Osterman authored 'Disposable Workers: The Transformation of Employment' published by Harvard University Press.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Charles James Kirk (October 14, 1993 – September 10, 2025) was an American right-wing political activist, entrepreneur, and media personality. He co‑founded the conservative student organization Turn…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Kirk

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Ernesto Cortés Jr. is the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) co-chair and executive director of the West / Southwest IAF regional network. The IAF provides leadership training and civics education to p…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernesto_Cortes

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The actions of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have attracted reactions from officials, scholars, and citizens. While a majority supports the creation of an agency dedicated to efficien…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Response_to_the_Department_of_…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 2: “Osterman is the Nanyang Technological University Professor Emeritus at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he is also a professor emeritus of work and organization studies.”

CORROBORATED

Three independent sources (MIT Personal Faculty, a biography snippet, and the Aspen Institute) confirm Paul Osterman's titles as Nanyang Technological University Professor Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Work and Organization Studies at MIT Sloan.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Nanyang Technological University Professor Emeritus. Professor Emeritus, Work and Organization Studies. 01.Biography.From July 2003 to June 2007 he also served as Deputy Dean at the MIT Sloan School.
https://mitsloan.mit.edu/faculty/directory/paul-osterman

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Paul Osterman. Nanyang Technological University Professor Emeritus. Professor Emeritus, Work and Organization Studies. MIT Sloan School of Management.
https://mitmgmtfaculty.mit.edu/osterman/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Paul Osterman is the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Professor of Human Resources and Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management as well as a member of the Department of Urban Planning at…
https://www.aspeninstitute.org/people/paul-osterman/

verified

Claim 3: “That's over 55 million people in the American workforce.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists of biographies of Theodore Schellenberg and information about US Highways 55 and 56, which are entirely irrelevant to the workforce statistics claim.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — U.S. Highway 55 (US 55) was a 370-mile (600 km) north–south U.S. Numbered Highway in Iowa and Minnesota in the United States, that connected U.S. Route 61 (US 61) in Dubuque, Iowa with U.S. Route 10 …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_55

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — U.S. Route 56 (US 56) is an east–west United States highway that runs for approximately 640 miles (1,030 km) in the Midwestern United States. US 56's western terminus is at Interstate 25 Business (I-2…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_56

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic consisting of 50 states and a federal c…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States

+ 3 more evidence sources

schedule

Claim 4: “David Weil, a professor in the Heller School for Social Policy and Management and the Department of Economics at Brandeis University”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 5: “According to Osterman's analysis, 35% of U.S. workers are either marginal employees, freelancers, contractors or gig employees finding work on online platforms like rideshare services.”

SINGLE SOURCE

While the claim is mentioned in the context of the MIT News article (implied by the title 'How 35 percent of US employees are left on the margins'), the provided evidence for this specific claim consists of irrelevant Microsoft Community and Wikipedia entries about Georgia and the US. No independent corroboration of the 35% figure was found in the provided evidence snippets.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Georgia ( JOR-jə) is a state in the Southeastern, South Atlantic, and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the northwest, North Carolina and South Carolina to the northeas…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_(U.S._state)

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geog…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._state

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+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 6: “Overall, Osterman finds that about 17% of U.S. employees are marginal workers.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The claim is corroborated by the MIT News snippet provided in the evidence for Claim 7 ('Overall, Osterman finds that about 17 percent of U.S. employees are marginal workers'), but no other independent sources confirm this specific percentage.

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Claim 7: “Accounting for about one in six U.S. jobs, it's a huge category of people [marginal workers]”

CORROBORATED

Three independent web search results (MIT News, Sözalt, and another source) all contain the exact phrasing that marginal workers account for 'about one in six U.S. jobs'.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — But do you know about marginal workers? Accounting for about one in six U.S. jobs, it’s a huge category of people, who are going nowhere fast in the workplace — and don’t really have much say about th…
https://news.mit.edu/2026/how-35-percent-us-employees-are-le…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — But do you know about marginal workers? Accounting for about one in six U.S. jobs, it's a huge category of people who are going nowhere fast in the workpl. This article has been reviewed according to …
https://www.soz6.com/news/how-35-of-us-employees-are-left-on…

schedule

Claim 8: “Osterman notes, only about 6% of U.S. employees are in a union”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 9: “This includes gig workers, who account for a little more than 1% of the workforce and draw work from online platforms such as rideshare services.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results to support the claim regarding gig workers accounting for 1% of the workforce.

info

Claim 10: “Roughly 12% are contract workers, who are often employed by staffing agencies but then assigned to work at varying locations.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The MIT News snippet explicitly confirms that 'Roughly 12 percent are contract workers', but other search results provided are about Google workers in Pittsburgh or general health plan surveys and do not corroborate the 12% figure.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Overall, Osterman finds that about 17 percent of U.S. employees are marginal workers. Roughly 12 percent are contract workers, who are often employed by staffing agencies but then assigned to work at …
https://news.mit.edu/2026/how-35-percent-us-employees-are-le…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — About 90 contract tech workers in Google’s Pittsburgh offices have voted to form a union with the United Steel Workers. Photograph: Amy Osborne/AFP/Getty Images.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/sep/24/google-co…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The survey, conducted February 26 – March 12, 2026, included 2,001 employees at companies with 25 or more workers who are enrolled in employer-sponsored health plans. The margin of error is ±2.8 perce…
https://www.citybuzz.co/2026/06/22/survey-half-of-u-s-employ…

verified

Claim 11: “In researching the book, Osterman conducted an original survey of more than 6,000 workers”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists of Amazon listings for Bluetooth headphones and irrelevant Wikipedia entries, providing no information about Osterman's survey size.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Edward "Monk" Eastman (1875 – December 26, 1920), was an American gangster who founded and led the Eastman Gang, one of the most powerful street gangs in New York in the late 19th and early 20th centu…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monk_Eastman

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Thomas A. Kochan (born September 28, 1947) is a professor of industrial relations, work and employment. He is the George Maverick Bunker Professor of Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management,…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Anton_Kochan

+ 3 more evidence sources

help

Claim 12: “Another 5% are organizational freelancers, working for firms without being part of the permanent staff.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results to support the claim regarding organizational freelancers.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.