Millions Working as Temps

Many major firms, both large and small, are using temporary workers to fill short-term needs, thereby cutting overall employment costs, since temps usually do not receive extensive benefits, bonuses or training.

In addition to employees who are placed in temporary jobs by agencies, there are millions of people employed as “independent contractors” and “contract workers.” A major development boosting this trend is the “gig economy” or “sharing economy,” including companies like the ride service Uber. It now has hundreds of thousands of contract workers.

The largest temporary help agencies tend to have vast global operations. Adecco is a Swiss staffing firm with extensive operations in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere, employing hundreds of thousands of people. Manpower, based in the U.S., does a major part of its business in dozens of nations worldwide. Kelly Services places massive numbers of people in jobs each year on a worldwide basis.

Demand for temporary workers slows dramatically during economic downturns. The use of temps enables employers to increase the workforce quickly when orders from customers increase, and reduce the workforce rapidly when sales decrease. Temporary workers are also an extremely efficient way to meet needs for one-time projects, fill the slots of permanent employees who are on leave and screen potential candidates for full-time positions by first hiring them on a temporary basis.

Some Americans prefer to work as temporary employees, feeling that this gives them more flexibility in their working lives. Unfortunately, however, many people who end up working in temporary positions would greatly prefer to be employed full-time. Many of these workers have significant experience as well as college degrees. A large percentage of temps work in professional specialties, such as law, finance, engineering or accounting. Also, the number of information technology temps has increased dramatically in the past several years.

Internet Research Tip:

For data on the temporary staffing industry and the temporary workforce in the U.S., see the American Staffing Association (www.americanstaffing.net ).

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