Is temp the way to go?

May 10, 2010 was an extremely rough day on Wall Street – probably the worst one we have had since February 2009.  Fortunately stocks stabilized with the release of the Labor Department’s report that 290,000 more jobs were added in April.  Even though that was good news, it made me want to know what kinds of jobs were added – if the economy is on the right track.  I read many articles and found out that the jump in jobs was due in part to hiring for temporary jobs.  In this case, the temp jobs were for the purpose of conducting census reporting. Probably not the best situation we could encounter but at least it’s a step in the right direction.

Okay… so we added 290,000 jobs to the rolls last month.  Almost one-third of those jobs were for census takers but what about the rest of the jobs.  Are companies hiring?  What industries are hiring?  What about technical jobs? Are companies spending the extra money to hire permanent employees or are they taking a cue from the government and hiring temporary employees.  To get to the bottom of the employment situation, I checked out Bruce Steinberg’s site (www.brucesteinberg.net).  Bruce has been reporting on the jobs/staffing situation since the mid 1980’s and is a great source! I wanted to see what he would report as far as the trends for April 2010 were concerned; very curious if the way to go was a temporary position. 

According to Bruce’s report, the following sectors added jobs:

• Construction  – especially in the non-residential subsectors including heavy and civil engineering construction
• Manufacturing – in fabricated metal products as well as machinery sub-sector
• Mining and logging
• Retail trade
• Wholesale trade – especially in durable goods and electronics
• Financial sector – especially in real estate
• Professional and business services – especially computer systems design and related services
• Education and health services
• Leisure and Hospitality – including arts, entertainment and recreation as well as accommodation and food services
• Government – mainly due to the temporary hiring of census takers

So, what does all of this mean?  Well, if you are a job seeker, you might want to alter your search tactics.  In the past, it was very easy to find a technical position.  However, today, companies are proceeding cautiously.  More and more employers are turning to temporary staffing services to fill their demands.  Instead of adding permanent employees to their rolls (an approach that is very expensive), they are bringing in temporary employees on an as needed, project type basis.  This ploy can be both good and bad for those seeking a job.

Pros
You will be working!
You could learn new skills
Let’s you put your best foot forward (can you say permanent employment?)
Working for globally recognized companies
Networking
Developing business relationships
Flexibility on your work schedule
Variety of work environments

Please, feel free to submit your comments or feedback below!
-Nancy Anderson, SEO Analyst for the Traffic Department at Beyond.com. Nancy has been working with Beyond since 2002.  Prior to Beyond, Nancy worked as a business systems analyst at HNC Software, Inc and completed a twenty year career in the US Navy – retiring as a Chief Petty Officer. She enjoys spending time with her beautiful daughter and three incredible granddaughters.