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Labor in the network society 181ment relationships; (2) shortened job tenures, reflected in high levels of jobturnover; and (3) mediated employment relationships, in which the directemployee–employer relationship is mediated by additional institutions andexternal pressures.Non-standard employment: This term generally refers to all employmentthat is not characterized by full-time, year-round employment for an indefiniteperiod, working for a single employer who largely directs and controls theconditions of employment (Carré et al., 2000; Kalleberg, 2000). This includestemporary, part-time, contract employment, and self-employment. While estimatesof non-standard employment vary, driven by ambiguities in definitionsand difficulties in measurement, it seems to be high in Silicon Valley andgrowing quite rapidly (Benner, 2003d). Between 1984 and 1998, for example,employment in temporary help agencies in the Valley grew by 174 percent,compared to 26 percent in total employment (see table 7.2). Between 1990 and1994, employment in temporary agencies actually increased by 30 percent,while overall employment declined.Outsourcing has expanded in the past twenty years, first in service activities,manufacturing, and now increasingly in high-end design (Davis, 2003).The numbers of independent contractors and self-employed people haveexpanded as well: approximately 15 percent of tax returns in the regionincluded some self-employment income in 1999 (JV: SVN, 2000). Dependingon how one deals with potential double-counting, and definitions, an estimated44–74 percent of all job growth in Santa Clara County between 1984 and 1998was accounted for in the growth of non-standard employment (Benner, 2002).Using a somewhat broader definition of non-standard employment, a surveyin 1999 estimated that a full 67 percent of workers in the state as a whole donot have “traditional employment” (Yelin and Trupin, 1999).Job turnover: As described above, there are high levels of job turnover inSilicon Valley, as employees move more frequently from firm to firm. A 2001survey of workers 25 years and older found a median job tenure of 30 months(about half the national median of 4.7 years), 3 with only 32 percent reportinghaving worked in their current job for at least five years, and only 20 percentlonger than ten years (Pastor et al., 2003). Perhaps more important thanincreased turnover, however, is the short-term nature of the implicit employmentcontract, with many firms and workers not even presuming they willhave a long-term relationship, even if workers are hired in “permanent” positions(Rousseau, 1995). There is widespread acceptance of people movingfrequently from company to company; loyalty is typically owed more toproject teams, particular technologies or industries, or the Valley as a whole,rather than to individual companies.