Temporary workers expect to focus more on full-time, traditional work in the future and less on contingent work, according to a report by Staffing Industry Analysts.

“This is consistent with previous surveys we have done with regard to temporary worker preferences,” said Jon Osborne, VP strategic research and the author of the report. “On the whole, temporary workers mostly prefer permanent work and see temporary assignments as a bridge to that.”

Fifty-five percent of temporary workers surveyed by SIA said they planned to do more full-time, traditional work in the next 10 years.

Meanwhile, 20% said they planned to do more work through staffing firms, and 41% planned to do less.

However, some sub-groups of workers remain relatively open to non-permanent forms of work.

“The more highly paid the temporary worker, the less they expect to be doing traditional, full-time work and lower-skilled labor in the future and the more open they become to doing other types of labor, especially high-skilled nonpermanent work, nonpermanent work for a former employer, project-based work,” according to the report.

Among highly skilled workers — such as those in medical, IT or engineering occupations — the report found 34% planned to do more nonpermanent work, 30% planned to do less and 35% said they planned to do the same amount.

For low-skilled occupations, 10% of workers said they planned to do more nonpermanent work and 65% said they expected to do less.

The full report is available to corporate members of Staffing Industry Analysts. Its title is “North America Temporary Worker Survey 2019: Temporary workers’ plans and preferences for types of work.”

The report’s survey includes responses from 5,777 North American temporary workers working through staffing firms.