To those bashing contract jobs/temp agencies... (unemployment, employer, insurance)

[pvande55]

I have worked for them many times. Pay was usually good, though sometimes assignments too short. Never had one turn into a permanent position. Perhaps because I am in Engineering, where you solve the problem, and usually move on to the next company.

[MrWillys]

Good for you, and it will increase your Social Security. Enjoy the bay area, and the coast of California. I actually respect you for working through the temp agency, because there's so many more benefits doing it right. My apologies for my error, but it was somewhat unclear.

[oldtrader]

Many companies fill needs with a Temp through a Temp agency. A large percentage of those jobs, are when a company needs to know if they really need another person working for them. Instead of hiring someone and then having to fire them in 90 days when they find they really do not need a person, they use a temp. Then at the end of the temp position they have to decide whether to not hire anyone, or if they like the job the temp is doing, and find they need another person permanently and often hire the temp as a full time employee. In other words, the temp is a test of how much they need another full time employee.

Other times, they hire a temp, as the job they hire to fill, is only a 30, 60 or 90 day job that will not ever become a permanent job. This is often seasonal jobs. A good example is retail stores, that are currently hiring short term employees to get them through the Christmas shopping period. Another example is a Peach Farmer. They don't need pickers year around, so they get their pickers through a contractor that supplies the pickers for the period they are needed, which is only a few weeks at most.

An important employee is out on extended medical leave. They call a temp agency to fill their needs, for the short time they need a replacement. The temp job ends, when the employee is able to return to work.

Temps have their place, and a lot of people have gotten work for many decades before this, threw temp agencies. They are a vital place, in many work fields.

[beera]

Originally Posted by MSchemist80

Not for a reference for a sales call. You can talk to my supervisor after you interview me and right before you make an offer. Could you imagine if every agency in town that could potentially hire me started calling my references. I've been contacted by well over a dozen. Could you imagine if every time you applied for a job they called your supervisors. Your supervisors would be answering calls about you all day long and not working. There is a reason for this standard practice of business etiquette and fortunately background checks cost money so companies don't do them willy nilly but staffing agencies use them to make sales calls.

Apples and oranges. You aren't applying for job after job, you are applying at a temp company that you will end up representing if you are placed with one of their clients.

A temp agency has every right to check your references before they send you to their clients. That's ONE check, not dozens.

Anytime I worked for a temp they interviewed me first and then checked my references for the client. Me applying, going in, talking to them, etc, IS an interview, an interview with a temp company. If they think you are terrible they won't put you forward.

If you walk in and say "here's all my experience, here's how great I am, blah blah" and then they send you to an interview and then they call your references and the supervisor says "that guy was fired for stealing" they wasted not only their time, but a client's time. And then the client will be wondering what happened OR could find out that they didn't do their homework and check up on your claims.

The last temp I went through also did the background check. And when I got a full time job at the company I was temping at, they did an additional bg check.

[Severs]

Temp agencies vary from agency to agency. I have worked for some that, while not always the most reliable to find you work, treat you with respect and go out of their way to help you out as they can. I have also worked for some that never have jobs, and are a waste of time. I have also worked for one that to save their own skin, will and has falsified documents regarding one's employment, as well as doing everything they can to make things the most difficult they can for the temp workers.

[MSchemist80]

I've had several agencies waste my time or try to stick me in very low paying technician jobs or have the client interview you and jerk you around. Heck I had one client company subject me to 6 interviews over an entire afternoon. As a result, you need to sign up with many agencies to get decent temp work nowadays. I can't have them all calling my references which gives me three option, give them fake references, refuse until after an interview, or don't even bother with them at all. I finally got myself a good job and I am done with staffing agencies.

BTW when a real job is on the table that I am a match for these agencies are not shy about calling me despite my refusing to meet with them ahead of time or give references. I had no fewer than 10 call me in the two day period about the same job which was the one I took 4.5 years ago and I hadn't met with any of them beforehand or given references.

Do you want to know what a profession controlled by staffing agencies looks like?
Company: Aerotek Scientific
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Category: Scientific Jobs
Rate: $10.00 to $12.00 per Hour (would you like fries with those results)
Job Type: Contract-to-Hire
Posting ID: 2953193
Posting Date: 11/19/2013 Allegis Group Family of Hiring Companies

Apply Online for this Job Today
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.

Entry Level Chemist Job Description:
Aerotek Scientific is currently seeking entry-level chemist with a background in sciences.

Requirements:
-BS Degree in Chemistry, Biology or other Science
-Basic analytical testing.
-QC testing ability/knowledge.
-Documentation & Data Analysis.

Qualified candidates that MEET these requirements should apply directly to job posting.

Required Skills for Entry Level Chemist Job:
■CHEMISTRY
■LAB TECHNICIAN
■LAB TEST INSTRUMENTS
■LAB TEST
■BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

STATS of Chemists
Years of Experience


Less than 1 year 9%
1-4 years 51%
5-9 years 21%
10-19 years 13%
20 years or more 6%

After 5 years more than half have left the field and by 10 81%.

[MSchemist80]

These agencies are taking in huge profits one should ask where is the money coming from. The answer is mostly that it is coming from the workers. All that money that would have been spent on benefits, competitive pay, bonuses. 401k's, even training and development are instead going to fatten these pimps up. Anyway you look at it these agencies are not a positive force in the economy. They are heavily contributing to creating an underpaid, disposable, disengaged and demoralized workforce.

[I_Love_LI_but]

Originally Posted by branh0913

So are you saying that the temp service should pay you 100% of what they get from the company. then in that case, the recruiter and the agency make $0 an hour. You do realize that temp services are in business to make a profit.

No, of course not, but they should pay more like they used to instead of keeping well over 50% of what they bill. If it weren't for the temps out there doing the actual work over at the clients, where would they be? Nowhere. That is a simpleton proposition you wrote and you know it. Please try to keep up!

[Garethe]

I'm currently playing the temping game and I have mixed feelings about it. When you are unemployed and only qualified for the low end of the skilled trades market (ie. non-union) and competing against hundreds of other applicants, then you are pretty much dependent on them. Play their games and jump through their hoops or starve. Not everybody has 2 months of savings to sit around waiting for the HR gatekeepers to make decisions. So what have you got to lose?

No two agencies are ever alike and I register with as many as I can. I've encountered all kinds of them. Some are sleazy. Some place phony ads on Craig's. Some don't advertise at all. Some are part of a national corporation. Some are small independents. I can't speak for the high end specialized fields. Perhaps there really is evidence of collusion and other ethical issues. The closest I can get to this is the logistics and manufacturing industries; the temp services supply a steady stream of workers of all races/nationalities/languages in the name of "diversity" to prevent unionization. The more common fabric employees have, the more resources they gain, and soon realize they have a "voice". Don't think it doesn't happen.

Immigrants and the destitute are also the least likely to complain about making minimum wage and having to work long backbreaking hours. Or even having their rights violated (I'm speaking to you Amazon). If you truly are desperate then you need to be on your best behavior and come off as passive/conformist; these companies have no interest in employees who like to make waves or even ask questions. Just go in, do the work, get your check, and look for something better. When you get it, leave. And don't look back. Two can play their game. Don't worry, they will quickly forget about you and move onto another "mark" to exploit, possibly even the very next day.

In the end I think there are more bad agencies than good ones, a fact that is not going to go away as long as there are corporations in need of their "services". And they ALL do it, even the most well-known treasured American brands, they are all guilty of these practices. I'm the last person to be making pro-union commentary, they have done a great job of shooting themselves in the foot to say the least; however, with union power waning, corporations are reverting back to some sleazy hiring practices without any watchdogs in place. But the longer you play the game, the better you get at it, you can even win from time to time. And if you enjoy payback like I do, you can always recommend the good ones to your future employer, not everybody will be a grunt forever. And some day you might be the person in charge and can take perverse pleasure in telling the baddies to take a hike when they cold call you for business.

[Secretary2014]

I worked in a company as a receptionist and assisted the HR Dept. though a temp agency for 9 months, they where very happy with my job, suddenly.... 3 weeks before Christmas they had to let me go... it was devastating for me and my great co-workers but they told me that the agency was asking for more money for me and they couldn't afford to break me out of there contract because they asked for too much money... BUT my question is this >>> (if anyone out there can help me) they want to hire me back but how can they do it without being sued by these people... I'm 49 years old and its so difficult for me to find a good job like this one or any by that matter!! This is so unfair this company had made sooo much money with me I was getting paid 13 an hr... and they where billing the company 23 an hr!!... can I just fire the temp agency and tell them that I don't want to work them anymore? then can I go back to the company so they can hire me? Can the company do that?

This temp agency screwed everyone but im the one on unemployment... no benefits and on food stamps because to top it off they told me they don't have anything else for me...

Thankyou for reading....