The number of temporary jobs has continued to grow in 2012, a trend that the American Staffing Association says is a strong indicator of job growth nationwide. Both job seekers and companies are reporting that temporary staffing is beneficial, as it provides workers with experience and gives companies a chance to see them in action before committing to full-time employment.
With the advent of new systems and techniques that allow companies to train temp workers, temporary staffing agencies could start to place even more workers in the coming year.
The ASA's Staffing Index notes that staffing employment in April rose by 6.9 percent compared with the same month in 2011. Last year, U.S. staffing companies hired, on average, 2.8 million temp and contract workers per day - an 8 percent increase from the year before.
Companies in the U.S. are finding that by using new training methods, temp workers can be easily brought into the full-time work environment. In doing so, employers are attracting and retaining workers that are well-qualified and can help improve overall productivity. Not only does this lead to better company performance, but also results in lower costs.
"Staffing agencies are seeing requests for short-term employees, but also evaluation hires, who initially work as a temp but transition to a permanent position if all goes well," said Rafferty Pendery, who works to develop online training solutions. "With fast and efficient training, these temp workers can prove their value quickly and then move into full-time jobs."
Often, businesses report high employee turnover rate is due to a lack of training once the employee has been signed with the company.
"[Online training] makes it simple for new hires to learn their job quickly, and... helps them become more comfortable and proficient in their role," Pendery added. "This increases the chance they can remain with the company in a full-time position."
According to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in the temporary help services industry grew by 21,000 jobs in April. Overall, U.S. nonfarm payroll employment increased by 115,000 last month, which contributed to a slight drop in the unemployment rate of .1 percent, from 8.2 percent to 8.1 percent.