Candidates for Direct Hire Staffing Often Start Out as Temp Workers

Copyright (c) 2010 Trey Markel

At the end of October 2010, 14.8 million people in the United States, approximately 9.6% of the eligible-to-work population of the country, were unemployed. One million new jobs were created in the private sector during the year, but over eight million jobs were lost during the economic crisis years of 2008 and 2009. If you're looking for a job right now, these numbers mean that you're competing with almost ten times the number of applicants that were job-seeking just three years ago. Your resume might not be enough to get you in the door, and if you're a recent graduate with no experience, there's a good chance you won't even be called for an interview.

Direct hire staffing agencies can help you find the job that you want, but there will be heavy competition for the position. Some of the first candidates hired are often those who have spent time as temp workers in the field they are applying for a permanent job in. This experience offers something more to prospective employers than just education or interest. Hiring someone who has temped in the field can save a company hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars in training fees. If they hire from their own temp pool, there may not be any expanse at all.

ASA Statistics for Temporary and Direct Hire Staffing

The American Staffing Association (ASA) publishes statistics every year about the temporary and direct hire staffing industries. Their 2010 findings show that temporary staffing numbers are up, even while permanent job numbers are still down. 8.6 million workers were employed by staffing agencies this year alone. 79% of those have full time positions and 88% have stated that they use their temporary positions to build skills and experience for permanent job opportunities. 90% of the agencies that employ these temp workers offer additional free training in computer, administrative and clerical job skills, essentially making their temps more valuable so they can be assigned to higher paying jobs or go on to permanent positions.

Seasonal Direct Hire Positions

Government agencies and non-profit entities often use direct hire staffing agencies to find seasonal employees for busy times of the year. The United States Post Office is a good example. Every holiday season they take on new workers to handle the increased volume of cards, gifts, and letters being sent through the mail. UPS, a private company that does much the same thing, also hires additional sorters, loaders, and drivers during the holiday season. These jobs rarely turn into permanent positions, but they do offer experience and resume material. As the economy improves and more jobs open up, the skills you acquire while working a seasonal job could help you secure a better position.

How Outsourcing is Improving the Job Market

Much has been said about the number of jobs that have gone overseas in recent years. It seems, as a country, that we don't really manufacture anything anymore. Plastics, furniture, automotive, and textiles are now made in Southeast Asia and other more affordable regions of the world. Companies in the United States find, even with import taxes, they still make a higher profit using factories that charge pennies an hour per worker and don't have unions or mandatory health care plans. This trend has resulted in the loss of many light industrial and machine operator positions that were once considered high-paying permanent jobs that Americans could work until retirement.

The loss of these labor positions is part of the reason for the high unemployment rate in the US, but it has also created a new niche that temporary and direct hire staffing agencies are actively recruiting for. Companies here have transitioned from being manufacturers to being managers and distributors. There is an infrastructure necessary to handle those tasks and the workforce that makes up that infrastructure is in some cases as large as or even larger than the manufacturing staff was. The lower production costs have enabled companies to increase their volume and add more clerical and administrative staffing here at home, different jobs than they offered in the past, but jobs nonetheless. Thousands of former laborers are now retraining for office jobs.

Learning New Technology Skills is the Key to Long Term Employment

If you've lost a job in a field that has been declining for over a decade, there's a good chance you won't find another job in that field. You can bemoan your lot in life and sit at home until your unemployment extensions run out or you can re-train for something new and get a job in another industry. Learning new technology skills is the key to long term employment. If you apply for a job today at a temporary or direct hire staffing agency, one of the very first questions that they'll ask you is if you have computer skills. If you don't, most agencies will be able to train you in at least the basics. Public libraries and community centers around the country also have free or easily affordable courses you can take, so there's no excuse not to learn.

Advanced computer skills in applications like Word, Excel, and Powerpoint will make you even more valuable and significantly increase your chances of finding employment. There are too many people grousing on Facebook about how all our good jobs have been sent overseas. They're missing the big picture. The jobs that were lost have been replaced, with better jobs. One million new jobs were added this year, most of them in technology and administrative positions. The engineering, IT, and health care industries have also seen significant growth in the past year. Don't wait for your old job to be available again. Learn how to do a new one. There are plenty of opportunities out there if you just spend a little time searching for them and keep an open mind for something different. Go to a temp agency and take a part time job while you're job searching. You can take advantage of the free training they offer and get the experience you need to get a better, permanent job when it becomes available.