Temp agencies have their critics, however. They see temp agencies as cost-cutting measures that allow companies to use workers without providing vacation time, health insurance or other benefits. This practice, they say, contributes to the erosion of job security in modern job markets. Though they have both pros and cons, temp agencies are a major part of the world's job market, especially in the U. Employment with temp agencies peaked in before suffering declines due to the economic downturn [ U.
From the "Kelly Girls" of the post-war years to today's contract software programmers, temp workers have become an integral part of the business landscape.
For both workers and employers, it pays to understand how temp agencies work, what they cost or pay , and how to use them to your best advantage. There are several advantages to employers who use temp agencies.
They drastically cut the amount of time and effort that must be expended screening applications and interviewing job candidates. Imagine a company that just won a new contract to produce electronic components, but it's a short-term contract, lasting only 3 months. It could take weeks to find and hire qualified workers to build the components, which is very inefficient. A temp agency allows the company to add the necessary workers quickly, and would ideally already have workers qualified to build electronics waiting to go to work.
While most companies don't like to admit it, temp workers also save them money because they can put them to work full-time without providing benefits such as health insurance or paid vacation time. For example, Microsoft is known to use thousands of temporary workers -- and lost a class action lawsuit in that required them to pay benefits to "temporary" workers who had been with the company for 10 years or more [source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer ].
Temp agencies have their advantages for workers as well. Submitting your resume to a temp agency can give a worker access to dozens of potential jobs, depending on his or her skills. It's much more efficient than applying and interviewing for multiple jobs. Some companies also use temp agencies to test out workers before offering them a full-time, permanent position. That means temp agencies can provide workers access to permanent jobs they wouldn't otherwise be able to get.
If your business is thinking of using a temp agency, there are several factors to consider. Do you need a large supply of unskilled workers for a job with high turnover? This will likely include completing an application.
If the temp agency decides to move forward, you'll have an interview. Depending on the field, you may also be required to take an assessment, which allows the agency to test your knowledge on computer programs, field-specific subjects, and other subjects.
In a standard job interview, the company wants to see if you'd be a good fit. However, temp agencies are looking to see if your skill set matches the various roles they're trying to fill. If your experience is a good fit, they'll contact you with a potential assignment to get started.
When deciding on a temp agency, there are several things you'll want to consider. If the agency is asking you to pay a fee for any services or resources, you may not want to use that particular agencies. Temp agencies are paid by the companies who hire them , not their temp workers. Temp agencies typically have a large pool of workers they have already screened.
They do the work of filtering resumes, conducting preliminary interviews, and other screening methods to save you the time of doing these common hiring chores.
Trying new workers before hiring them full-time is a common reason you might consider for using temp agencies. If there is a worker the temp agency sends to the job and you think they have great potential, you could talk to the agency to discuss hiring the employee at your company.
There might be a fee associated with this decision, but it is one additional way to find full-time workers if you need them.
The cons of temp agencies Temp agencies often require contracts with stipulations such as usage requirements , which means you might still end up overstaffing just to meet their demands. You have little insight or control over which workers show up.
If you prefer to know all your options for potential workers, this might not be a great fit for you. Temporary workers might not be as heavily incentivized to do well as your part-time or full-time employees.
Due to the temporary nature of engagements these workers expect, and the fact that they are employed by the temp agency and feel security in that, they might treat their time at your company as just one more stop on their route. If the temp agency does not closely monitor performance reviews for their workers and weed out the underachievers, you might end up with low performers on a regular basis. This problem will be hard to fix without insight into the workers beyond what the temp agency tells you.
Additional costs come with using a temp agency. If you are trying to keep costs down, using a temp agency to find workers can be more expensive than finding workers yourself or using some of the alternatives listed below. Alternatives to temp agencies Find employees yourself The most involved choice you have is to find workers yourself.
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