Michael Grabell looked at the army of people that get to work every day at 4am:

• Almost 20% of the job growth in the United States since its recession has been in the temporary worker sector.
• Temp workers show up at temp-agencies at 4am, and wait to find out if they’ll have a job for the day.
• They’re not paid for the hours that they’re just standing around, waiting to see if they are given a job. When those hours are taken into account they’re paid less than minimum wage.
• Demand for them has risen from companies who prefer not to worry about compensation claims, union drives, or even citizen checks.
• There is so much demand that there are ‘temp towns’ – inhabited by a large proportion of temp workers – that have spread across the United States

Read more about the plight of temp workers, what it’s like to work as one, and the role of the government over here.

Source: Time