The Benefits of Signing Up with a Clerical Staffing Agency

Copyright (c) 2010 Trey Markel

Unemployment is at an all time high and many career professionals need to go back to school for training in a new field if they want to improve their current situation. This has created opportunities for those looking to secure entry level jobs in a new field. Not surprisingly, as permanent jobs have been lost, the number of temporary positions, particularly those in clerical staffing, has increased. Many companies are choosing to hire temporary employees while they are waiting for an uncertain economic situation to stabilize. Contrary to what you might hear elsewhere, there are jobs available if you're willing to start over, good jobs which can sustain individuals and families.

Why sign up to temp for a clerical staffing agency? How many resumes have you put out there recently? Do you know anything about those companies you're applying to? Have you received numerous turn-down letters, but know that positions are being filled at the companies that are sending them to you? One of the reasons for that is that human resource departments at those firms are giving their temp pool workers priority for permanent hire first. Training someone from outside is cost prohibitive when an everyday worker already has knowledge of what needs to be done. If you're coming in from the streets, you don't have a chance.

Clerical Staffing Needs for New Technology Companies

There are trends and statistics which will show you that green technology firms will be the largest private industry and public utility job providers over the next several decades. IT firms and wireless technology distributors come in a close second. On the flip side, most manufacturing companies will not be expanding in the United States. In fact, a large percentage of the jobs that are going overseas to Southeast Asia and the Middle East are in manufacturing. It's cheaper to manage the distribution here in the US, but have the products built somewhere else. South America and Central America are also benefiting from the outsourcing trend. Permanent light industrial positions in the United States are down, but temporary positions are still opening up as companies prepare to transition manufacturing processes overseas.

The outlook for manufacturing jobs may appear bleak, but the opportunities for clerical staffing personnel and administrators are almost unlimited. The demand for clerical staffing is up 46% since January 2010 and is twenty percent higher than the highest demand all of last year. Best of all, it's projected that many of these jobs, namely those at start-up technology firms, will become both permanent and lucrative within a five year period of hire. Those with an educational background in technology of any kind are encouraged to seek these positions out.

A Change in the Way America Does Business

During the recent national midterm election campaigns, with many races seeing a lot of mud-slinging and accusations thrown back and forth, the business community in the United States held their breath and wondered what the future would bring. Both sides had ideas and plans about how to fix the economy and somehow bring us back to a period of sustained growth. When the dust cleared, the percentages of red and blue were a little bit different, but it was clear that nothing would be resolved soon. This contributed to what has become a culture of caution, particularly for small business owners, and it enhanced the position of clerical staffing companies. As a business owner or manager, when the future is uncertain, you try not to make decisions that are permanent.

The national unemployment rate at the time of the election was 9.6%. Between December 2007 and October 2010, 6.9 million workers were displaced from jobs that may never be available again. The highest percentages of these were in the automotive and building industries. The lowest percentage was in clerical staffing and administration. The workers who provided manufacturing and labor were laid off; those who did the paperwork were mostly kept on because outsourced manufacturing actually requires more clerical and administrative personnel than keeping those tasks in-house does. Companies in the United States have evolved from production facilities to management firms.

Re-training and Re-entering the Workforce in a Clerical Position

If you can't find a job in your field, get yourself re-trained and find a job in another field. That is what will improve the economy in the United States and other countries around the world. There's no sense waiting for that old job to come back. It's not likely to happen. The automotive industry is cutting back, at least until they retool and start building alternative energy automobiles. Other manufacturing jobs are entrenched with foreign companies that charge rates we can't possibly compete with. The skills required to run a machine or use hand tools need to be replaced by an ability to use a keyboard or maintain a filing system. Like it or not, it's the direction US business is going in.

Clerical staffing positions aren't for everyone, but a large portion of the population now is computer literate and surfs the net on a daily basis. Kids grow up playing video games with complex controls that require manual dexterity and fast reflexes. These are job skills, whether you know it or not. Start-up and established companies are looking for men and women who can handle a computer and react fast when a crisis occurs. The definition of "unskilled labor" has changed in the past decade. It's not about specialty knowledge anymore. Employers with entry level positions are looking for basic computer skills and pleasant demeanors. If you have those, and the willingness to take a temp job, you can be working by tomorrow.

The Ever Expanding Health Care Industry

As medical technology improves and health care becomes more complex, the health care industry will be seeking new clerical staffing and administrators. Considered for decades to be the most stable industry to get an education in, the medical field will always be hiring, both for medical care professionals and the clerks and administrators who support them. If you're just getting out of high school and looking for that "sure thing" to go to college for, pursue an education in health care provision or management. You can take a temp job while you're doing it to pay your bills.