"Work In Progress"-The Tempo of Temps
Tuesday, May 23, 2006SUSIE GHARIB: Just a decade ago, if you were looking for temporary work in the United States, chances are what you found were white- collar jobs, administrative or office work. That`s not true today. New figures show almost half of all temporary workers now hold blue-collar jobs. As we continue our series "Work in Progress," Washington bureau chief Darren Gersh looks at how temporary jobs are making a permanent difference in the American workplace.
DARREN GERSH, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Lisa Johnson started stitching patches at Lion Brothers as a temporary worker. Like most of the three million other temps across the country, that means no benefits and no health insurance. But as a single mother of two, it was still a chance to make her life more stable and secure.
LISA JOHNSON, LION BROTHERS: It`s really good, you know. It gives the opportunity for people with addictions and different disabilities to be into the work world, you know, learn to live life on life`s terms. They help you out, give you a stepping stone.
GERSH: For Lisa, who is a recovering drug addict, that stepping stone was Goodwill. Its staffing agency helped Lisa land a temporary job with Lion Brothers. After three months of hard work, she turned that temp job into a full-time one with union benefits and healthcare.
JOHNSON: That`s one advantage you have at getting a job because they know that Goodwill deals with disabilities. And when you come in the door, they already know that, OK, there`s a challenge here with this person, so let`s see if they can overcome it and do what`s necessary.
GERSH: As new legal protections make it harder to fire employees, more and more companies are using temp agencies to screen potential candidates for full-time positions. It lets them take a chance on applicants like Lisa without risking a lawsuit if it doesn`t work out.
DAVID AUTOR, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS, MIT: With a temp agency, they can take that risk. They can work with someone at arm`s length. If they work out, they can keep them. If they don`t work out very little is lost. It provides a way to get a job and a way to audition, potentially, for more stable employment.
GERSH: Flexibility is a key reason temp agencies now employ more people than Wal-Mart. In fact, they employ more workers than the entire auto industry. New research released today shows the face of the temp industry is also changing, with the most dramatic growth in manufacturing. In 1989, temp agencies, or staffing services as they are sometimes called, supplied just one out of 44 production workers. By 2004, one of every 10 production workers were temps. That`s 1.2 million front-line manufacturing jobs like Lisa Johnson`s. Many welfare agencies see the growth in temp jobs as an opportunity to move beneficiaries into the workplace quickly. But results are mixed. Researchers have found former welfare recipients who temp often don`t look for full time positions that are more stable.
AUTOR: You`re better, if you have a choice, to try to push people, say, well, try a little bit harder, pound the pavement a little bit longer, look for that direct-hire job. It may be a little painful to find, it may take a while, it may be discouraging. But if you find it, it`s probably more likely to be stable, probably likely to have a longer-term payoff.
GERSH: Still, many workers like Lisa have found that temp agencies can provide the foot in the door they need to prove themselves.
JOHNSON: This is going to be a challenge, I`m going to do this, I`m going to stay here and prove to myself as well as the employer that I can do this job. I`m not one who`s going to come in here and get six months, get a year, get a little time and then say, OK, well I don`t need this anymore. So I`m going to stay here as long as they have me.
GERSH: Lisa Johnson`s goals are no longer temporary. Darren Gersh, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Washington.
KANGAS: Tomorrow, getting back into the workforce after a stint in prison. Our "Work in Progress" series continues.
