Dear Joyce: I'm one of those who was pink-slipped from a dot-com-and-gone, which I joined right out of college. I'm not quite sure what my next move should be, but I'm thinking about becoming an independent worker -- a "free agent." Or should I come in out of the rain and get a permanent job? -- T.T.

Dear T.T.: You never know when the roof is leaking in a strange building, so an invitation to come in, out of the rain, to regular-status employment isn't always the safe haven with the long-term promises you imagine. Hopes of career security have given way to hopes of career durability.

Despite the loss of security, long-term demographics are expected to cause labor shortages for at least the next decade, with immigration, a prolonged slowdown and technology being wild cards.

Growth Spurt. When labor shortages, such as we've had in the last few years, are paired with the just-in-time philosophy of companies that hire independent contractors and cut them loose when the project is over, the offspring is the portable worker, a person who bounds from one job to another without collecting many unemployment checks.

Pro Free Agent. Together these workers are called "Free Agent Nation," a term popularized in the United States by Daniel H. Pink, who maintains a similarly named Web site, www.FreeAgent.com.

In his new book, "Free Agent Nation: How America's New Independent Workers Are Transforming the Way We Live," Pink, a former White House speech writer who decided to become a non-hired gun at the Pink House (his attic office), defines free agents as:

"... self-employed knowledge workers, proprietors of home-based businesses, temps and permatemps, freelancers and e-lancers, independent contractors and independent professionals, micropreneurs and infopreneurs, part-time consultants, interim executives, on-call troubleshooters and full-time soloists (formerly known as freelancers)."

By adding all these people together, Pink comes up with a total of an astounding 33 million in the United States alone -- and says this is the biggest story of the new economy.

When you want to take part in untethered employment because you have hot skills and can call the tune, great. "In a free agent economy, organizations need individuals more than individuals need organizations," Pink explains. Free agency also rescues home-tied and older workers ignored by mainstream corporate America.

Zits and Zings. Despite the pleasant feeling of being your own boss, according to a self-selected survey of 1,143 free agents on what makes them tick, Pink found the three worst facets of being a free agent are: lack of health insurance and other benefits; unstable income and difficulty with cash flow; difficulty marketing one's products or services.

That roundup fits with what readers have told me over the years and with what personal friends who swam ahead of the workplace tide relate.

One couple, running a printing company, says the nearly $700 month for health insurance is intolerable and that she's thinking of taking a 20-hour a week job at a coffee house because it offers health benefits.

Getting the best rates on a home loan can be near impossible for free agents. Another friend confides that he took a regular status job and will stay at least until his house loan funds.

Three other friends, all high-demand consultants, are actively seeking to give up the road-warrior life -- they're exhausted by airports and schedules and had to keep pumping for business when they did get home.

Three for the Road. What are the upsides? By far the biggest three motivating reasons cited for free agency are: Sought greater independence and freedom; got tired of traditional work; wanted to make more money.

On Balance Of every 10 free agents in Pink's sample, five say they do not want to leave free agency for a traditional job, three say they're rethinking free agency, and one says enough already.

Business Benefits. If you decide to become a "glamorous" free agent, you should absolutely see a tax specialist and do adequate research first. Pink's book is a good place to start. Remember, too, that business gains if you become an independent worker -- no long-term promises in retirement benefits, no health insurance liabilities and no office rent. You shoulder that risk for a somewhat higher pay agreement.

Send career questions for possible use in this column to Joyce Lain Kennedy at Box 368, Cardiff, CA 92007, or e-mail her at jlk@sunfeatures.com. Sorry, the volume of mail makes personal replies impossible.

© 2000, Los Angeles Times Syndicate