jobber

Etymology

job + -er

noun

1. (archaic) One who works by the job (i.e. paid per individual piece of work) and/or recruits other people for such work.
   The deponent, in the course of negotiation for sundry jobs, expressed his curiosity repecting the Habits and Life of the Knights of the Thimble, when the jobber to the Nobility and Gentry kindly volunteered to accompny him on a round to some of the great shops of the west. 1866 November, “A Visit to the Tailors of the West”, in The Suburban magazine, volume 1, page 99
   Every person who shall keep any boat for the purpose aforesaid without having such license, and every owner of, or other person who shall be employed or shall ply for hire in any such boat within the limits aforesaid without having such license or wearing such badge as aforesaid, and every person who shall offer himself as a porter or jobber within the said town of Saint George without having such license or wearing such badge aforesaid, shall, for every such offence, forfeit and pay a penalty not exceeding forrty shillings. 1875, The Laws of Grenada and the Grenadines, 1766-1875, page 109
   The jobbing clerk immediately upon receipt of the ticket minuted it properly in the book, and, upon looking at the annunciator, saw that it showed no jobbers in the waiting room; he went at once to the waiting room, but found no one there; he then returned to his own room and called down the speaking-tube to the basement for a jobber, but was told by the boiler tender that no jobber was there. The foreman of the jobbing department was then at his desk, but the clerk did not call his attention to the fact of the complaint or to his failure to find a jobber, nor did he make any further effort to find a jobber or to mention the complaint to any one until about 11.35, when he again called to the basement for a jobber, and ordered the first one who came in to be sent up. 1898, Public Documents of Massachusetts - Volume 11, page clxviii
   In the Mills there existed a usage under which a worker was first appointed as a Cleaner then an Oiler and thereafter promoted as a Jobber. 1976, The Industrial Court Reporter, page 499
2. (theater) An actor temporarily employed for a specific role, often in a touring company.
   Most of the music circuses use jobbers in four to eight of the leading roles for each show. These jobbers are principal actors who are employed for one or two leading roles during the season. There is no difference between a star and a jobber, except that a jobber is not necessarily a "big-name" performer […] 1957, Lorna Marie Wildon, A survey of contemporary American musical arena theatres, and an analysis of problems of organization and production
   Jobbers are used as needed. 1986, J. Allen, The 1986 Summer Theater Guide, page 83
3. (obsolete, UK, finance) A promoter or broker of stocks for investment.
   An act to restrain the number and ill practice of brokers and stock jobbers: 8 & 9 Wm. 3, ch. 32 (1697) [legislation of English parliament
4. An intermediary who buys and sells merchandise.
   1. (US, business) A type of intermediary in the apparel industry, as well as others, who buys excess merchandise from brand owners and manufacturers, and sells to retailers at prices that are 20-70% below wholesale.
   2. (Britain, finance) A market maker on the stock exchange.
5. (professional wrestling slang) A performer whose primary role is to lose to established talent.
6. (slang) A thing (often used in a vague way to refer to something the name of which one cannot recall).