Employment service jobs, including temps, in Georgia
Year March
2006 141,200
2009 96,900
2012 123,400
2014 141,700
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Growth in Georgia since end of recession in mid-2009
Total non-farm jobs: 6.1 percent
Temp jobs: 32.8 percent
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Job Growth in U.S. in past year:
Total jobs added: 2.2 million
Temp jobs as percentage of total: 11 percent
Growth in Georgia since end of recession in mid-2009
Total non-farm jobs: 6.1 percent
Temp jobs: 32.8 percent
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Job Growth in U.S. in past year:
Total jobs added: 2.2 million
Temp jobs as percentage of total: 11 percent
The number of workers placed by staffing companies as temps typically surges as a recession ends, then recedes as robust growth kicks in.
This time that kind of hiring has stayed strong: Of the 183,000 jobs added in metro Atlanta since the recession ended in 2009, 30,000 have been in “employment services.”
“This has been an unprecedented post-recession period,” said Carl Van Horn, director of the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University. “So everything is taking longer to return to what we thought was normal.”
Metro Atlanta’s unemployment rate fell to 6.8 percent in March from 6.9 percent in February, the state reported Thursday. After more than six years of nearly always being higher than the U.S. average, Atlanta’s jobless rate is now just a tenth-of-a-point above.
The continuing strength of the market for temp workers reflects two factors, Van Horn said. One is caution among companies still reluctant to commit to the costs of putting people on the payroll.
“But also, as they always do, companies are looking for ways to squeeze more productivity from their labor costs,” he added.
Some companies are probably using temps to avoid mandates of the new healthcare law that are triggered at 50 full-time employees, but no one can say for sure how big an effect that is having, Van Horn said.
The 28-county metro area added 17,500 jobs during the month, the state Labor Department said. The state’s monthly figures do not separately identify temps. But federal data do, and staffing executives say they see the evidence every day.
“Locally we are finding that many more companies are going to flexible staffing,” said Andy Decker, regional vice president for Robert Half International. “I think companies did it before, but the percentages, the levels at which they are doing it have increased.”
For a company, temps provide flexibility.
In some cases the term temp worker is a misnomer, as the worker stays in the same position, doing the same work for years. Or the job could last a day, if that is what the company wants.
Either way, the worker is on the payroll of a staffing agency that places them with the company. The company pays the staffing firm, which pays a portion of that fee to the workers. Some staffing firms provide benefits as well.
In contrast, laying off full-time workers can be costly, time-consuming and awkward.
Temps can save an employer money and hassle in finding workers – even if the employer hopes to eventually fill full-time, permanent positions.
Still, there are good reasons that a company switches from temps and adds to its payroll.
A workforce of “permanent” employees may cost more, but they also tend to have more stability, loyalty and productivity – which in the long-run can be much better for business.
Temps can be a bridge between the two choices.
And with roughly 186,500 people in metro Atlanta officially unemployed, taking a temp job can be a better bet than tossing a resume onto a huge pile, said Aaron Hanretta, senior area vice president in Atlanta for Randstad.
“A temp position has always been a gateway to a permanent position, and that really hasn’t changed.”
A few months ago, Dolphin Shipping and Trading in McDonough, a fruit exporter, was looking for help in bookkeeping and other office work.
“I went out and posted it on the Web and I was just inundated with applications,” said Angela Barringer, chief executive of the $26-million-a-year company. “I was overwhelmed.”
She called a staffing firm.
They sent Paulette Britton. The arrangement let both the company and the potential employee assess each other, Barringer said. “It is like an audition – on both sides.”
Britton, 54, of McDonough, started as a temp on Feb. 2, and was placed on the Dolphin payroll April 1.
“During the interview, she explained that the position was open and she asked if I might be interested,” she said. “We just wanted to play it out and see how it worked.”
Overall, the numbers paint the picture of an improving job market. In March 2013, the metro unemployment rate was 8.0 percent. Since then, the economy has added 51,500 jobs.
Yet the proliferation of temp jobs is still a sign of some residual weakness.
Many people who are temp workers would prefer to have a steady, reliable, permanent job, but cannot find one, Van Horn said.
So companies looking to pick temps can find good workers, he said. “There is still a very rich pool of unemployed workers – and by rich, I mean talented, available and willing to work.”
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