Non-employee labor a growing trend in work force

Normally, Campbell would see his temporary job postings level off as companies increased their permanent hiring of employees, but after this recession, things have been different. “We’re seeing a new reality in the work force. Just-in-time labor is a growing trend,” he said.

According to Yoh’s 2010 Annual Workforce Trends Study, 80 percent of employers said that they expected the size of their non-employee work force (consultants, independent contractors, temporary employees and project teams) to stay the same or increase in the next year. Sixty-three percent of business leaders reported working on better ways to manage their non-employee work-force segment.

“Employers are saying that the recent recession has fundamentally changed their employment strategies and led to a ‘just-in-time’ hiring strategy that will make temporary employees an even greater pillar of the American economy,” said Lori Schultz, president of Yoh, a work-force solutions company.

“It’s a huge shift and it’s been coming on for the past four or five years. The recession and slow recovery have probably just accelerated it,” said Bill Kahnweiler, associate professor and human resource expert at Georgia State University’s Department of Public Management and Policy.

In the big picture, Kahnweiler sees a shift from an Industrial Age model of doing business, where organizations hired, nurtured and trained employees for the long haul; to a Knowledge Age model that is leaner and more adaptable to a fast-changing global market.

“It’s about money. Companies want more flexibility and less risk moving forward. They want to hire talent as they need it and not be burdened with full-time employment costs. It’s cheaper to hire contingent workers,” he said.

He sees challenges ahead for human resources departments and managers who will have to manage the tensions that may arise between employees and non-employees working together, as well as issues of worker motivation, loyalty and productivity. Non-employee workers will need to become more entrepreneurial in managing their careers when a job no longer includes benefits, perks or long-term stability.

“We’re seeing corporations being cautiously optimistic about hiring,” said Teela Jackson, director of talent delivery at Talent Connections, an Atlanta-based professional services firm, specializing in recruiting, executive search and HR consulting. “Payroll is their biggest cost, and companies don’t want to add permanent positions until they see a real uptick in the market.”

She’s seeing companies advertise for short-term assignments and temporary positions in a wide range of industries and at all levels of employment. It’s no longer just administrative assistants and line-level positions. Almost 60 percent of temporary and contract jobs are professional and include positions in information technology, accounting and legal services, according to Campbell, an officer on the board of the American Staffing Association.

“Companies aren’t setting the bar any lower either [for part-time jobs],” said Jackson. “They want the best of the best, and the salary rates we’re seeing are fair. Most times, they are comparable to permanent work or a little higher.”

She expects a lot of contract jobs to convert to permanent when the economy improves, but acknowledges that temporary work is going to be a larger and permanent segment of the work force. While the loss of benefits and job stability is a negative to many workers, there are positives. She believes it will create a more diverse work force, with people moving from department to department and company to company to acquire skills and knowledge quicker than if they worked for the same employer for 10 years.

Another plus "is that it’s so much easier to find a part-time job in this economy,” said Campbell. “Being hired can be a real confidence booster and a way for workers to build skills while waiting for the market to improve.”

There are two categories of temporary work, he said.

“The true temp-to-hire positions generally last about three to four months and allow workers and employers to look one another over for fit, before an offer is made,” said Campbell. “Longer temp positions [12 months or more] fill a specific need, such as interim CFO or project manager.” These positions may come with benefits provided by the employer or the staffing firm that fills the position.

Job seekers should include staffing companies in their searches “because they’re putting more people to work,” Campbell said. Staffing firms help applicants assess and market their skills and apply to postings, and they provide access to benefits.

“In our changing work force, there isn’t a downside to taking temporary work. It’s all about building skills and experience,” said Campbell.

Raquel Lewis has held both temporary and permanent jobs and says there are positives and negatives to both. When she moved from South Carolina and needed to find a job right away, she took a temporary position with Hire Dynamics in 2002.

“I had a strong work ethic and experience in customer service, so the company took a chance on me and offered me a permanent position in recruiting and on-site sales in 2005,” she said. She enjoyed the camaraderie of colleagues, growing with a young company and helping people.

Looking to advance her career, she took a job in call center management in 2010, only to find that the work wasn’t a good fit.

“I had my kids early and never really took the time to decide what I wanted to do with my career,” said Lewis. “I just fell into staffing and loved it, but I want to see what other ways I could use my skills. With my last child graduating, I decided it was my time.”

She quit the call center job, and when Hire Dynamics called with a temporary recruiting assignment, she took it.

“The steady income is good," she said. "I get to work in different arenas and check out the different positions that are coming in. I have income and the freedom to explore. It’s an exciting time for me."