May 8, 2008

TEMPORARY SOLUTION

By Michael Diamond

Trying to get back on her feet after a layoff, Barbara Watson mulled her options and decided to take a temporary job doing clerical work at Sigmet Corp. in Manalapan.

The job doesn't pay as much as her previous job, and there are no guarantees it will lead to something permanent. But it is giving her and her employer a chance to see if the partnership will work out - with no risk to either of them.

"It's a good opportunity for everyone," said Watson, a 50-year-old Middletown resident.

With the economy slumping, the temporary employment industry remains upbeat. It is attracting employers who need to add workers, but don't know if they will have enough work for them in the long-term.

Advocates say it gives employers flexibility they need in a fast-moving economy. And it gives workers a chance to prove themselves and eventually secure a full-time job.

"Because of the uncertainty of the economy, it is an incentive for businesses to use temporary workers," said Paul Grimes, head of the finance and economics department at Mississippi State University's business school.

The demand for temporary workers has grown significantly this decade. The American Staffing Association, a trade group for employment agencies, reported 2.96 million temporary and contract workers were employed daily in 2006, the latest data available.

The number was a record for the industry, but the growth rate was the lowest in 15 years in a sign that it isn't immune from downturns, the association reported.

Temporary Work

Temporary employment agencies recruit workers and send them to employers. The employers pay the temp agencies and the temp agencies pay the workers. Some of the assignments are short-term. Others can lead to full-time employment, according to AARP, which estimates 15 percent of temp workers are seniors.

The benefits that employment agencies offer in the current economic climate vary.

Employment agencies at the Shore say business has picked up. Barbara Davis, who owns an employment agency based in Red Bank, said revenue for the first quarter was up 15 percent from the same quarter a year ago.

Frank Wyckoff, owner of Snelling Personnel Services, an employment agency based in Eatontown, said business in the first quarter increased 35 percent from the same quarter a year ago.

They said pharmaceutical companies, health-care companies, manufacturers, distributors and professional service firms have more than made up for a downturn in real estate and construction.

"When the economy gets soft like this and unpredictable…business' tendency is to pull their horns in a little bit, shrink their payroll to a core group of workers and use more contingency workers," Wyckoff said.

Other temporary employment agencies nationwide have seen even larger gains. Capitol Staffing, a Jackson, Miss. job placement agency, reported a 118 percent increase in placements in January compared with the previous year. The agency focuses on placements in administrative, sales, accounting, information technology and medical fields.

"We were in and out of recessions before we ever realized we were in one," said Carolyn Harrison, Capitol Staffing's president. "The truth is, companies are still hiring."

That doesn't seem true across the board. Labor Finders International, a job-placement service based in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., said its business has slowed because it supplies labor to the construction industry, said Jeff Burnett, president and chief executive officer.

Florida has struggled with mortgage defaults and has one of the highest foreclosure rates nationwide.

Temporary work may attract people with family obligations who do not want a full-time position, or people who hold multiple jobs, Grimes said.

But for Barbara Watson, it served as s chance to find full-time employment again. Watson spent five years working at Adamatic, an Eatontown company that manufactured bakery equipment. But the company closed its plant late last year, laid off more than 40 workers and consolidated its operations in Auburn, Wash.

Full-Time Next?

Watson contacted Snelling and was placed in a clerical position at Sigmet, an electronics sales company. The position lasts 90 days, after which she could be hired full time.

"For them it's no risk, and for me it's no risk," Watson said. "If I decide this isn't really what I want, there's no obligation on anybody's part. But you hope this is what you want and it will be permanent."

The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger contributed to this story.