Free Agent Nation
Chapter One
THE CRUX: In the second half of the twentieth century, the key to
understanding America's social and economic life was the
Organization Man. In the first half of the twenty-first century, the
new emblematic figure is the free agent-the independent worker who
operates on his or her own terms, untethered to a large
organization, serving multiple clients and customers instead of a
single boss. The rise of free agency shatters many ironclad premises
about work, life, and business in America-from how companies should
operate, to how we structure our health care, retirement, and
education systems, to which values guide our lives. To truly
understand the new economy, you must first understand the free
agent.
THE FACTOID: The largest private employer in the U.S. is not
Detroit's General Motors or Ford, or even Seattle's Microsoft or
Amazon, but Milwaukee's Manpower Inc., a temp agency.
THE QUOTE: "This book is about the free agent. If the term is vague,
it is because I can think of no other way to describe the people I
am talking about. They are free from the bonds of a large
in ... read full excerpt from: Free Agent Nation: How America's New Independent Workers Are Transforming the Way We Live ebook
