Friday, August 4, 2017

When Temping is no longer temp

Temporary Agencies have changed the landscape of the work force. They started after World War II in 1947 with William Russell Kelly who founded Russell Kelly Office Service (later know as started Kelly Girl Services) in Detroit , with three employees, 12 customers and $848 in sales; today which is now known as Kelly Services. A year later, two lawyers, Aaron Scheinfeld and Elmer Winter, founded a similar outfit, Manpower Inc, in Milwaukee. By the way I give The NY Times credit for the above information in their article (The Rise of the Permanent Temp Economy) Apparently in the 80's this is where it really took off, but it really didn't have an impact on me back then.

As I remember the 80's you looked in the classified ads for work, call up the company, set an appointment and go in for a direct interview for the position. You would talk directly to the man or woman looking to hire you and go through the interview process and usually you'd get an answer within a day or so if you got the job or not. No middle man, no liaison, go between, or ever you want to call them - oh yeah they're called temporary agencies. Now they proliferate the work landscape and I understand why. Large Corporate America seems to love money more than a good employee. They can work you for a lower pay rate with no promise of nothing more than a weekly check and then thank you very much when your assignment is over. They don't have to worry about paying you for vacations, holidays, benefits, or match your 401K. 

Just a side note on this topic, but I noticed that in different states the agencies operated differently. In Texas, the state I'm from, the agencies would call you to come in and have you register with them. They would test your skills IE; typing speed and accuracy, your Office Suite knowledge, or Lotus for those that use it - and your filing skills among other things. After an interview of your past work history, where you see yourself in 5 years, what type of position and pay, you were set. They would call you and let you know about a job, what it entailed, the hours, pay, length of job (strictly temp, temp to hire, or direct hire) and you would say whether or not you wanted the position. If you did, then they'd tell you to meet so and so on Monday or whatever day they wanted you to start and that was it.

Since I moved to Pennsylvania the agency also does all that but then the company wants to ALSO go through the same interview process the agency does - which I find redundant, I don't know, am I the only one who feels this way? That's the job of the agency to do that, I mean, if you don't trust their skills - it IS what they do for a living - why in the world would you pay them all that money to vet a person to only go through the process again yourself? Again, doesn't that seem redundant? Either the person is going to work out or not; it's not like you have to keep them if they don't and all you have to do is call for another temp. I mean you can't find out what a person can do or what they're capable of just by talking to them again. You see how the perform - that's how you know if they are capable or not. Sorry just went off on a tangent. I'll get back to the main point.

So since moving to Pennsylvania I thought I would just be doing temporary work for maybe 6 months at the most and then find a permanent job and use my skills to move up the corporate ladder. But now it's been almost FOUR years and I'm still doing temporary work. It's really baffling since every job I've taken they always said they liked my work, was sad to seem me go, I was just a great worker, and blah, blah, blah, blah. That's what I was told by the company I was working for and by the agency. Yet, I'm still without a real job. Now what I want to know and please give me your input; is it just harder to find a job out here on the East Coast than it is in Texas?

I really thought temporary work was just that; temporary. Now I don't know what to think anymore - I'm not knocking temporary work - I like learning new things and meeting new people, but as a family man who is the only one able to work I need a job that can take care of me and my family. Being a temporary worker is stressful, not knowing if you're going to be extended and if not, when you'll get another assignment that is worthwhile. With the low pay and no benefits it's really hard to take some jobs since they just aren't worth the time and gas it takes to get there. Just recently I've had more people calling me for permanent jobs - though it's still through a temporary service, it's a step forward. I've had 3 interview in two weeks and probably another this Friday or Monday. Now, if I still don't get an offer out of these four I guess I'll forever be a temporary with no guarantee of anything - and that's not temporary.

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