Working With Temporary Employment Agencies
Earn a Living by Taking on Transitional Jobs
According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the numbers of people employed through temporary staffing agencies grew from 165,000 in 1972 to over two million 1995. The American Staffing Association notes that annually 11.2 million people are hired by staffing firms in the United States alone.
Nearly half of these people are contracted to work assignments for companies that have 250 or more regular employees. These larger companies tend to have more available positions across administrative, manufacturing and managerial job categories.
Contracting for Work Through an Employment Staffing Agency
Once contingent workers or contractors land an assignment through a temporary agency they can focus on completing individual and team based projects until hiring managers at these firms become aware of their expertise, knowledge and business acumen. At that point, contingent workers might be asked by a hiring manager to come onboard as a regular full-time employee at the firm.
Job boards like Career Builder, Indeed, Simply Hired and Monster, newspaper employment opportunity sections and targeted magazines are places where temporary staffing agencies post job openings that unemployed or laid off professionals can take advantage of. Professionals can sign on to work short assignments that last from one to four days or they can contract to work longer assignments that last for several weeks or months.
Salary and Administrative Support for Temporary Workers
Salary is generally negotiated between the hiring manager or company and a representative at the temporary staffing agency. The fact that temporary staffing agencies like Kelly Services, Randstad, Manpower and Olsten Staffing Services have existed for an average of 50 years, allows them the advantage of having long standing relationships with small to large sized companies across a broad spectrum of industries. It also provides them the skill to negotiate the best hourly salary rate for the contingent workers employed through their agency.
Additionally, several agencies have offices in other countries. Professionals can contract for overseas assignments and get paid while they visit another country. Most agencies require professionals to go through a background investigation and drug screening prior to coming onboard.
Payroll is typically set on the same schedule that the hiring company uses. For example, professionals who accept job assignments from companies that pay on a weekly cycle, will generally be paid weekly by the temporary staffing agency that they contract with.
To ensure contractors receive ample administrative support, employment agencies generally assign a representative to field questions from contingent workers and to search for new job assignments for them. Two to three weeks before a current work project expires, professionals will benefit from contacting their agency representative and letting them know whether they want to try to extend the current assignment or look for new work projects.
In the event that professionals want to take a mini vacation between job assignments, they can do that by simply informing their agency representative that they do not want to start a new job until one to two weeks have elapsed since the end of their last project.
Training and Healthcare Insurance for Temporary Workers
One major difference between working for a temporary staffing agency as a contingent worker versus being employed directly by a company on a regular full-time or part-time basis is the fact that temporary staffing agencies typically do not provide healthcare or retirement benefits.
Temporary staffing agencies that do provide healthcare insurance often do so at reduced monthly rates for the temporary employees or contingent workers who contract with them. To close this gap, professionals who are a member of a union can sign up for reduced individual healthcare insurance rates through providers like Aetna, Wellpoint, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Humana.
Jobs that temporary staffing agencies negotiate contracts for include payroll administrator, office administrator, recruitment consultant, accountant, trainer, business manager and team leader. The companies also offer career path advice and training and development opportunities for their contingent workers.
Professionals wishing to land assignments with temporary staffing agencies should contact the agency directly. Most agencies have websites that currently unemployed and employed professionals can access to create an online profile, upload their resume and search on relevant jobs. Once a job has been found, professionals can apply for the job online or telephone the agency and speak directly with a representative about the position.
Throughout the course of employment with the agency, professionals should remain in contact with their representative and let them know of their interest to land new positions. After all, it is possible to work year round by contracting for jobs through a temporary staffing agency.
Benefits of Working as a Temporary Employee
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