Abstract
Millions of Americans volunteer annually and, on average, volunteers are highly skilled individuals. With unpaid volunteers working alongside W2-paid employees, sometimes it is difficult in a workplace to distinguish one from the other. Motivations for volunteering are many and the author does not intend to fully explore the myriad reasons identified by social scientists for this behavior, including to gain experience, create a path to a paid job, offer service to others or gain personal recognition. An interesting study of volunteerism is Richard Freeman's Working for Nothing: The Supply of Volunteer Labor. Using data from a unique survey, Freeman showed clearly that standard labor economic explanations only get people so far in explaining volunteerism. He also confirmed, as anyone who has had to recruit volunteers will attest to as well, many volunteers only do so if asked and it is certainly the case that not all asked will agree.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-2014
Publisher Statement
Contents © 2014. Reprinted with permission from WorldatWork. Content is licensed for use by purchaser only. No part of this article may be reproduced, excerpted or redistributed in any form without express written permission from WorldatWork.
Recommended Citation
Hallock, Kevin F., PhD. 2014. "Paid Workers and Volunteers, Side by Side." Workspan 57 (10) (10): 12.
Included in
Education Commons, Human Resources Management Commons, Labor Relations Commons, Psychology Commons