Behind the Rise of Temp Work

Reader Comments

Back to article

I knew people who worked right beside me for 10 years hoping to get on where I worked. I even wrote to the president of my company and asked him to give the temporary worker a $1 raise instead of taking it myself. These people were trying to get on while the tech age is coming in. They were kept for a length of time and let go. They would be gone three months. Probably collecting unemployemnt and to only return again for another 9 months hoping to get on . This is abuse of employment. When that person was collecting unemployement, there was another temporary taking his place. It was a way to not pay insurance to the person, and also pay them minium wage compared to $19 an hour back then that I made. This is what Reagan brouth in. We can thank him for this abuse. By the way, my company did raise their pay by one dollar. Then the managed temporary system came into effect. Man power........

Gloria Sanchez of GA 11:10PM October 20, 2011

I want to add that there is a growing supply of temps who get stuck with the "temp" title who with that alone are not considered perm material. I have both a college degree and juris doctorate -- and had worked as a perm (lit secy or lit paralegal) and the fixed labor market model is "2-4"years recent perm placement experience and the temporary agency is not considered that 'employer' -- with this women can get stuck in what is also characterized as a de-skilled job market. In litigation I noticed after the .com crash in the bay area and allegedly the "recovery' that temp work included alot of down time free to "surf the internet' and further that with attorneys "typing" their own papers on their computers, the perm and temp workers were paid, some times very high wages, (perm anyway) to perform very basic clerical functions which could be performed by a high school student. There is an invisible dissolution of the lit secy job today and would make for fascinating study as well as within the temp scene -- the temp agencies can also be brutal, dishonest, sleezy -- folks should guard against being associated with the wrong agency -- the employer looks at the agency as well as the temp.

Thanks.

Karen M. Fletcher of CA 10:43PM September 09, 2008

I'm in So. California and unfortunately I'm not seeing that many entry level temp jobs. I'm simply looking for file clerk or receptionist. Many ask that you be bi-lingual so I'm feeling anxious over not being able to find work. My husband is in the IT industry and between online job sites like Career.com and others he's filled out pages upon pages of applications in the hundreds plus, to recruiters listing jobs. The recruiters "might" call him or initiate contact via an *automated* response to which he responds immediately but these recruiters seldom call him back. Of the ones he's been able to get on the phone - only 2 seemed seriously interested in him, then ended up dropping the ball with no further explanation. This is almost feeling like a lesson in futility. We are about 2 months from going broke after 20 months of being unemployed (no benefits) save for a few contracts jobs. I have been trying to get an in home caregiver service business going and have ran nice advertisements, handed out my cards, formed a website etc and have not established one client. Only other caregivers looking for work themselves have called me off my ads. I'm now trying to get information on telecommuter jobs with legit companies so if anyone knows of a solid company that does this and I can work from my home in Calif please contact me. Also, at this point we are willing to re-locate to wherever the work is. g0lden0rb@yahoo.com The "0"'s in my email address are zero's. Thank you.

Gia of CA 9:11PM July 21, 2008

This is just another reason why we need a comprehensive national heath care program.

Tom Sedor of PA 9:27AM July 21, 2008

A well-written explanatory statement about temp-work. Thanks for a good and timely article.

Ziggy of CA 4:17AM July 16, 2008

Add Your Thoughts
Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ.

Back to article

Jobs That May Interest You

advertisement

Slide Shows

The 10 Best Jobs

Check out the top tier of our list of The Best Jobs of 2012.

U.S. News Rankings & Research

U.S. News delivers quality analysis and clear objective rankings to help you make informed financial decisions.

Advance your career with an online degree

Latest Video

advertisement