Free-Lance Nation: Why Temping Is Permanent

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To be sure, many workers thrive in this feast-or-famine environment. "I've worked for companies where I had to do the same thing day after day," says Ron Lefkon, 62, a temporary CFO with Tatum Partners in New York City, who swoops in only when a company is in crisis. "I'm having much more fun now." But for the self-employed, being a Lone Ranger can feel downright desolate when there's no employer to contribute half of your Social Security tax or a tech department to help out when your computer malfunctions. The lack of health insurance is particularly distressing. Even group rates from nonprofits like Working Today, a free-lancers' union based in New York City, cost individuals $287 per month (or a daunting $857 if you have a spouse and a child).

Above all, there's constant pressure to line up the next project. "You feel like you're treading water," says Barkley Anderson, 34, a graphic designer in Chicago who was laid off three summers ago. Anderson is making a bit more money than he did at his last job, but he is working twice as hard. A few months ago he started sending out his resume for a full-time gig. --By Julie Rawe, with reporting by Linda Berlin/Oakland, Kristin Kloberdanz/Chicago and Laura A. Locke/San Francisco