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Placement numbers dip sharply for temp agencies
CNY Business Journal (1996+), Jan 18, 2002 by Kropf, Annemarie
While layoffs directly affeet the work force of a company temporary agencies are not immune to the effects.
"The area we are assigned to in this particular office was hit bad," says Maryanne Boorse, marketing and placement specialist at StaffSource in Binghamton. "Business is, down at least 25 to 50 percent at this office."
Temporary, or temp, agencies feel the domino effect of the recession. When a company shuts down or shrinks its work force, that's one less place agencies can fill with workers.
StaffSource offers three kinds of work: temporary; transitional (meaning short-term to possible employment), and direct placement. Boorse says all three have been declining since June 2001.
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Normally, the company would place 50 to 75 workers on a weekly basis. Right now, that number hovers around 30 to 35. "There are opportunities," she adds. "They're just harder to come by."
At Information Systems Staffing, Inc. (ISSI) in Syracuse, the same holds true.
"Our direct placements are down by around 30 to 40 percent," says Allison Smith, vice president of ISSI. "There's not as many permanent jobs. Companies are not bringing on more employees. They're dealing with what they have."
Hiring freezes
Information Systems Staffing, as the name suggests, places people with hightech and information-technology skills. She says that this means they don't place as many workers as a normal temp agency would. Instead of a weekly job, ISSI workers usually receive threemonth contracts. "We don't make the money in volume," she says.
Smith says that by-the-hour staffing remains steady, and has even picked up in the small to mid-sized companies. "Large companies are still in hiring freezes," she says.
While temp agencies are able to fill a variety of positions, some temp agencies have seen increases in the demand for clerical workers.
At Kelly Services in New Hartford, clerical demand has risen 10 percent in the past six months. "Kelly is known for its office clerical line, as well as professional people," says Kelli Henry, city manager of the New Hartford, Norwich, and Sidney offices.
"Clerical has been noticeably strong in the last three months," says Brett Kuppermann, president of Andrews Staffing Services. The company fills three segments - clerical, industrial, and information technology. "I'm sure that the individuals being dispatched and assigned are the primary reason," he adds. "Those doing it get all the credit."
Staying diverse
Kuppermann says that being diversified helps the company.
"A lot of our business is coming from such diverse businesses that if we were solely concentrated on one area., say distribution, that may affect us," he adds.
All agencies say that temp wages haven't changed due to the economy, nor have they had to lay off staff employees. The length of time assigned to each temp job hasn't changed much either, according to agency executives.
Though jobs have decreased, the number of applicants coming to temp agencies have increased. Boorse says this is positive for the agencies.
"These times really help us to grow our data files," she says. "We get them into the system, and have them for later."
At Kelly Services, anywhere from 75 to 150 temps were placed each week. That number has dwindled to 30 to 50 temps nowadays. Henn, has a plan, though.
"When the economy has its bumps, that's when we get aggressive," says Henry, referring to the company's sales program of getting out and meeting customers. "That's what's going to help us."
Copyright Central New York Business Journal Jan 18, 2002
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