The Ins and Outs of Employment Agencies

When I say the word “Temp” what images comes to mind? Short-timer, lone gun, hired hand, free agent, human for rent, and “but I barely even knew ya.” According to statista.com, in the United States there were approximately 16,000,000 temporary employees in 2019. That is out of an approximate labor force of 163.54 million, so we’ll call it 10%. That’s also excluding freelancers, which is another topic for another blog entry.

People tend to temp for many different reasons. Here are a few:

Trying to maintain an income whilst between jobs. Some Agencies may take advantage of this knowing a temp’s unemployment situation. In this case, they can stick the temp in a position that may be not very desirable. I can give a personal example.

Back in the mid 90’s I was fresh out of college and looking for work. I decided to go with a temp agency hoping to get with an employer who would hire me full time. The first job they sent me to was a small gas company in Iowa in a smokey and dank office. Being I was asthmatic and am allergic to cigarette smoke, this didn’t really seem like a good fit for me at the time. I requested another assignment.

After that I was sent to an insurance company as a typist. My WPM (words per minute) were apparently impressive enough to qualify me to type addresses and codes. The codes corresponded to “canned” paragraphs that would be inserted into the letter. The letters were all sorts of technical reasons why the claimant was being denied coverage for whatever condition or procedure. It was depressing as hell and was a miserable job. I thought of how angry the recipients would be upon receiving these letters and how in some cases it would really hinder people financially. In reality the writing of that letter is the most impersonal and robotic thing ever. That added to my depression.
Fortunately, I found a job on my own after 2 months.

I think about this when I am inclined to want to get mad at a customer service rep on the phone. Again, it isn’t personal and in reality, it is probably just someone trying to feed their family or stay afloat. Anyone who has had to take a temp position to avoid being unemployed is very vulnerable.

Temp to Hire. Sometimes employers like to try out personnel on a trial temp to hire basis, also known as “kicking the tires.” On the flip side, some temps may wish to test out a company first and may seek out a temp to hire position for the same reason.

The advantage for the employer is that they don’t have to post an ad, whittle down a gazillion resumés, figure out who to interview, do the interviews, do 2nd and 3rd interviews, check references, negotiate salary and then pray to God they hired the right person. In some states it is harder than others to terminate someone who doesn’t work out and there are usually protocols for documentation with respect to progressive discipline and such.

For a Temp if it is indeed a shitty job or bad employer, then a temporary stay is much better than a short employment stint on a resumé or a reference check that will show a termination. There are advantages for both parties if they want to feel each other out first.

Situational reasons: College students may temp when they are off for a semester. Spouses who have are not the main bread-winner may work temp jobs since their spouse’s job may offer health insurance coverage or they may be in a situation where their spouse moves around frequently and will only be living in an area temporarily. Also, some temps may take on temp work as a 2nd job as a means to make ends meet.

Conclusion: Working with an employment agency can be advantageous as an agency can put your resumé and face in front of employers who you may not have had a shot with in the first place. The downside of course is that temp work or temp to hire work is without benefits and can be a bit more tenuous than direct employment. I think it comes down to a case by case basis and what the expectations are for each job-seeker. However, in a job search, especially one for someone who is in need of employment immediately, I wouldn’t write it off and would include it in the arsenal of job-seeking tools (which include networking, applying for direct hire jobs and working with recruiters).