Posted on 08/02/2010 1:23:50 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
U.S. corporations have a renewed emphasis on temporary hirings at the expense of permanent job placements.
Years ago, inventory on-demand solutions arose at manufacturing companies around the world, resulting in improved returns on industrial invested capital and corporate profitability both in the U.S. and abroad. Not surprisingly, today, the trend of a broader use of temporary workers is the next generation of return optimization in an age of broad uncertainty and a wider-than-usual set of economic outcomes.
Prior to the 2008-2009 Great Decession, temporary employment growth has signaled permanent hiring strength.
The chart below plots the year-over-year percentage change in temporary jobs in the U.S. against the overall rate of change in overall nonfarm employment.
Out of the 1990 recession, temporary jobs first began consistent positive year-over-year growth in December 1991. Overall nonfarm employment turned positive four months later (April 1992).
Following the 2001 recession, the "jobless recovery" produced a sputtering in temporary job growth throughout all of 2002 and did not post positive percentage growth until mid 2003. Six months later, total employment exhibited year-over-year growth.
In the current recovery, temporary jobs crossed into the positive growth region in January 2010 and then surged into double-digit growth with gains of 19.4% in June, following year-over-year rises of 16.9% in May and April's 14.6%, but total nonfarm employment has yet to grow year over year, since the series first turned negative 26 months ago (May 2008). The job loss was under 1% in June, however, and the chart above suggests that total employment will cross into the year-over-year positive region soon. As of now, the lag is five months, still shorter than the six-month lag between temp jobs and all jobs year-over-year recovery in 2003.
If the lead-lag relationship holds up this time, year-over-year U.S. job growth should become positive sometime in the second half of the year, but the growth will likely be modest relative to past cycles of employment growth.
In other words, a rise in cyclical unemployment appears to be morphing into structural unemployment in the U.S.
Doing exactly what I was doing before, in the same place, with the same people, I might add.
No company/product loyalty, no worries over company/product quality, low pay, low to zero benefits. People wonder why the Unions may strengthen.
This is normal behavior. It happens during every cycle. Business will not hire permanent workers until the sense a permanent trend. To date, no discernable positive economic trend has surfaced. Temp workers are generally more expensive than full-time help. Once business sees a trend in their favor they will hire. Most likely they hire those that have been employed with them as temps.
The chart confirms my experience. The 90’s were the age of temps.
I visited plants where temp agencies had their offices inside fenced off areas within the plants. Some had separate parking lots and even separate entrances.
I often visited one plant where the permanent employees had sand bags and barbed wire protecting their work areas. I had to deal with both and they were barely on speaking terms.
We had almost the same thing. Temps doing the same jobs but treated differently. They came and went by the dozens. It got to the point where I didn’t bother to become “work place friendly” with any of them. They were gone in a month.....parole violations, drug convictions, gang related funerals, pregnant women (no Daddy) by the dozens, prison/jail sentences. I guess my company was practicing...they moved to Mexico.
This will level off once businesses are reasonably confident that Obamunism is dead.
I don’t think so.
It is beyond the “Temp Worker”
I’m in my full second year of “The Just in Time” Temp Worker, as an electrician.
They say you’re hired full time, then they just call when they need you now 8, 12, 16 hours a week. That’s it no benefits, etc.
This is the third comapny that I have seen do this, it is a trend that will be here awhile.
“a while”
I think you're right.
France has been this way for decades now. The statist governments adopt silly regulations that show no understanding of economic reality, such as a requirement that no one is allowed to work more than 35 hours a week, and the unions have the dominant upper hand in France. It is quite difficult for a business to fire anyone in France and the benefits required for permanent workers are expensive. And like the US, there is a large segment of the population that is practically unemployable and dependent on the government (here, the underclass of single welfare moms and their offspring, there the muslim North Africans in their no-go areas).
As a result, France has had high structural unemployment for a long time, similar to what we are seeing now in the US. Businesses make great use of temporary workers, avoiding the problem of the difficulty firing workers and the expensive benefits.
bump for later
But for less pay and little or no benefits right?
The wave of the future....Americans that can afford little or nothing...The majority of which are working part time, for part time money.....
Sounds like the company I just left to go contracting. They believe in the meat grinding strategy of attrition, just throw enough bodies at something until it works.
NON-COMMITTAL PING!
Being a temp worker, one major benefit you don’t get, vacation time. You get it when between jobs however, you are looking for the next gig instead of enjoying the time off.
Back in the 1990’a, I was a temp work at MCI in Colorado Springs. I had some misgiving on the job but however, it helped me get into the Colorado job market when I wanted t leave Indiana. When I worked at MCI and being an East Coast company, you as a temp worker better know your place. You were expected to be at all off hours meetings but there were days when they had ski trips planned. Of course, you were not invited to go and enjoy ! There was also an unwritten rule that you had to park your car way out in the parking lot and don’t take the shaded spots either ! There were many other unwritten rules as well. Another one which was you didn’t dare disagree with an employee in public and includes in private as well. On vacation, you didn’t take time off, period especially on holidays ! You were expected to enthusiastically put in casual, unpaid overtime and you will be asked to do that at the last minute and on weekends !
I left there not even after being there a year !
I have nothing against temps..I’ve been one...but when the companies work force is 80 percent temp...well....
The chickens have come home to roost. Twenty years of “free” trade and financial speculation with the savings of ordinary Americans by Wall Street has resulted in the deindustrialization of America and declining standards of living. Today billions in government stimulus money result in higher spending for consumer goods but the factories that make the products are now overseas. We borrow money from China to give to Americans who spend the money on Chinese goods so Chinese factories can employ more Chinese citizens. Meanwhile, American workers search for nonexistent jobs and fall further behind.
That is where I came from and takes forever for the typical one to go full time.
What is kind of scary is taking the barely technical literate and trying to make some kind of IT person out of them.
I was an exception in hiring that I found out about later. I was the only local hire (main office - St. Louis) that was hired full time outright. All I did was find an application form and filled it out.
I stayed with them for a year while awaiting my actual job to start which was head of refurb/Ebay here in SC. There numerous unknown delays during that time. When it was finally greenlit, the area of the building wired and some material positioned, El Presidente put it on indefinite hold.
I quit and took up some contracting gigs. A few months later, I get a call back. People had supposedly grew up and saw reality. I start back and there were numerous red flags from the second day. The main guy and his minion come out to supposedly train me in the admin and related functions. They spend 2 days of mostly picking stuff to take back and I get a 2 hour crash course on this and that. Right before he left, he told me to my face in the presence of witnesses that I was set up to fail.
For a couple of months, I make a little progress. My opposite number in Vegas has one other person and half the volume. He doesn’t have to hold a bunch of hands either. He does very well.
For weeks I wouldn’t hear from anyone out from main. Apparently no one cared what I did too much. I played by the rules and begged for someone to help me. I finally get someone and we make some progress and bring some money in. They care all of a sudden. A directive comes out that I didn’t even get a CC on that all of my material is to be sent back.
It was never meant to work. Apparently it was just a test and it showed a lot of profit potential therefore I became irrelevant. I gave notice and left. Glad I am gone. Contracting is a step up from there. At least when I go on site, people want me to do well.
Oh well....
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