Rising demand for temp workers requires flexible, scalable staffing processes

The workforce is increasingly composed of temporary employees, according to a new study. Research recently released by Palmer Forecast showed that by the end of 2013, the market will see a 5.9 percent increase in the number of temporary workers in the United States. This change is following the 4.7 percent increase experienced in the first quarter of 2013 in a year-over-year comparison. This means that there is an increasing need for your staffing business to have the processing in place to handle the demand.

“Our forecast for the 2013 second quarter follows recent trends showing growth and indicating another increase in demand for temporary workers, marking the fourteenth-consecutive quarter of year-over-year increases,” said Greg Palmer, founder and managing director of G. Palmer & Associates, an Orange County, California-based staffing industry consulting firm.

“So far in 2013, the BLS reported an average of 18,400 temp jobs per month. Most of the trends remain positive for continued single digit temp help growth for 2013. To put the first quarter numbers in perspective, 174,000 temp jobs were added in 2012. This is following the 167,000 temp jobs added in 2011 and the 339,000 temp jobs added in 2010,” Palmer added.

According to the study, 11 percent of the new jobs created since 2008 have been temporary positions. Approximately 23 percent of the jobs created in March 2013 alone were in the temp industry. The St. Louis Dispatch reports that the temp industry could see further boosts as a result from the Affordable Care Act. Companies looking for ways to appropriately deal with new healthcare mandates are determining that holding a larger contingent worker force is leading to decreased expenses.

Because employers with more than 50 full-time employees will need to provide affordable healthcare coverage or pay a penalty, corporations are enacting new contingent and temp worker staffing plans. Many of the organizations set to do this will rely on the expertise of staffing professionals.

As a staffing professional, all of these new clients may mean that you will need to reconsider procedural processes. When you simply have 10 clients looking to fill 10 positions, it’s easy enough to ensure everything is running smoothly. However, as each of your individual clients looks to fill more and more roles, you may find yourself struggling to keep up with the demands – resulting in a decrease in service (never a positive thing!).

To combat this, your recruiting and staffing software application has to have the flexibility and scalability to handle these new demands. Decrease the risk of clients or job applicants falling through the cracks by using a complete tracking system that shows you how an employee candidate is managing the interview and application process set up by your clients. Software that is accessible via the cloud will also better ensure that you can provide clients and job candidates immediate answers as they crop up.

As the temporary worker portion of the job force continues to increase, it’s important to have the systems and procedures in place that will make organization and efficiency a priority. The economy is still in the process of recovery, which means hiring is rising and as a staffing professional, you’re going to be busy.

The St. Louis Dispatch reports that staffing companies across the United States are already finding themselves dealing with the increasing demand for temp workers and how best to deal with the situation the Affordable Care Act has created. Are you seeing an increase in the number of requests for temporary workers?