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’Temps’ Are Here To Stay
Shrinking labor markets and a desire for flexibility by workers add up to growing numbers of employees on temporary assignment
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Business New Haven
2/8/1999
By: Sheila A. LaSella
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The Connecticut unemployment rate fell to 3.1 percent in December 1998, according to figures from the state's Department of Labor. For state companies, that reflects increased business activity. Which is good. It also means a tight labor market. Which is bad.
Temporary employment agencies and staffing services are experiencing both the growth and labor shortage in this economic cycle. Additionally, in this job-seeker's market, the qualified temporary worker finds abundant opportunities and offers.
Growth in the temporary help and staffing services industry is due to a convergence of factors. There is a greater demand for employees in a strong economy which has created more jobs. Companies find it more difficult to hire enough workers with the right skills and are turning to temp agencies to recruit, screen and train workers.
In many instances, it is more cost-effective for companies to use an agency as an HR extension, as well as a timesaver in the hiring and firing process. Instead of screening multiple prospective employees, a company looks to an agency to send one qualified person with specific job skills. After three to six months the worker's suitability can be assessed, and if it isn't a good “fit” the firm notifies the agency to conclude the relationship without needing to navigate the potentially hazardous termination process.
On the other side of the equation, workers also have evolving attitudes toward “temping” these days. Temporary employment relationships can be viewed as a resource to enhance workers' skills and experience company cultures from the inside, as well as providing greater independence and a flexible work schedule. Consequently, a labor market more diverse than the traditional clerical field has now entered temporary employment.
Staffing firms also provide a broader range of services than in times past. Many companies use agencies for technical and professional workers on an ongoing project basis. For example, computer specialists working on year 2000 compliance are often sought by firms, often through a staffing agency.
Dunhill Staffing of New Haven has benefited from the current economic cycle. “Our firm ended 1998 with a 22-percent [revenue] increase over 1997,” says Donald Kaiser, president of the firm. Dunhill's 1997 revenues were $3,200,000.
Some other area firms, however, have not been as fortunate and are feeling the pinch.
“A good temp is hard to find,” say area agencies in pursuit of sough-after skilled workers. The pool of available workers with solid office and clerical skills has diminished significantly. “We are suffering for good people, people with a fairly decent job history, working qualifications and work ethic,” says Rose Tyler, regional operations manager for Admiral Staffing Services in Milford.
Admiral also sees former welfare recipients trying to enter the workforce, Tyler says, but often such workers lack qualifying skills and sufficient training.
Reynolds Technical Services in Stratford is also feeling the labor shortage. Says Reynolds Vice President Robert Reynolds: “We've been slow; our total volume has decreased. We can't find good people and job orders are down. Companies are still looking for people, but are very selective.”
Reynolds specializes in technical personnel - electrical and mechanical engineers and software programmers - but finds that jobs are now so specialized it's difficult to find the ideal match for picky clients.
Adjusting recruitment and training practices has been Dunhill's strategy in a fluctuating industry. The firm has reassessed its advertising campaign to go beyond classified advertising and reliance on word of mouth. Direct marketing and networking through chambers of commerce and schools are among Dunhill's new tactics.
Dunhill has also re-engineered training programs to target people who didn't match the skills clients were seeking. For instance, in the paralegal field, Dunhill is training its pool of legal secretaries to perform more paralegal work, which satisfies the current robust demand for paralegals.
For the worker willing to do the initial footwork, temping provides an opportunity to experience the job and corporate culture before accepting a permanent offer. It is no longer relegated to the part-time secretary looking to fill in financial or job-transition gaps. From college student to retiree, more members of the workforce are using this alternative job resource to suit their needs.
Typically the screening process is thorough. Résumés are scrutinized. Tests in spelling, grammar and computer skills are administered. References checked. Communications skills and attitudes are examined during the interview.
Kathryn McDougall, 28, of New Haven has been temping regularly with area firms in marketing departments over the past 18 months. “I spent my first four months in a great job, loved the work, but the director of marketing was a tyrant and consequently I found out why the department had such high turnover,” McDougall explains.
After that assignment ended and McDougall declined the company's permanent offer, she went on to temp for three other companies. There she not only gained valuable skills and experience, but made contacts.
“I still keep in touch with my former employers and although I'm certain I will accept my present offer, if it doesn't work out I will call them to see what's available,” she explains. “I've 'interviewed' four companies, worked with countless personalities and had more challenges than in my entire previous work history.”
McDougall is not alone in transitioning from temporary to permanent status. Dunhill says some 45 percent of its temporary workers offered permanent positions.
Workers are now using temp agencies for an array of reasons. More college students are discovering agencies as a way to get multiple interviews in a single geographic area.
Also, the “professional” temp is on the rise. The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported that out of 35 million executives, administrators, managers and professionals in the U.S. 7.7 percent - or 2.7 million workers - are in temporary positions. Professionals say they enjoy the flexible lifestyle, new challenges and the respite from corporate politics.
Downsizing has likewise increased the white-collar temp pool, which many companies turn to on a project-management basis. Accountants, attorneys, marketing specialists, human resource administrators and information technology specialists are now in the temporary employment pool in growing numbers.
Also, staffing services increasingly offer benefits to temps. Medical and dental insurance, vacation pay, retirement plans and free training are all part of packages worker can receive.
While future economic shifts are unpredictable, temp. agencies are challenged to adapt recruitment strategies to the current labor shortage. Says Dunhill's Kaiser, “Temporary coordinators and interviewers will have to be good - and not just body-pushers - to grow their business.”
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