
DATE: Monday, October 6, 1997               TAG: 9710060091

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY MICHAEL CLARK, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  141 lines

TEMPS TAKE CHARGE BUSINESSES ARE RELYING MORE ON HIRING TEMPORARY WORKERS FOR HELP.

The novelty of temporary employees in the workplace has worn off. Nearly all offices have had their share of ``temps.'' That doesn't mean the days of hiring short-term employees are over. Just the opposite.

Temps are everywhere, and the number is growing.

Perhaps unknown outside the industry, temps even have their own week to trumpet their accomplishments.

National Temporary Help Week, Oct. 13-19, was created 12 years ago to pay tribute to the role played by more than 2 million temporary workers in America, said Linna Lubore, spokeswoman for the Virginia Association of Temporary and Staffing Services (VATSS).

The number of temps also represents about 2 percent of the work force, highlighting the industry's growth.

In 1990, temporary help made up 1 percent of the work force. Ten years earlier, temps represented less than half of 1 percent, and in 1970, the amount was 0.26 percent, according to the National Association of Temporary and Staffing Services (NATSS) in Alexandria, Va.

In Hampton Roads, the Virginia Employment Commission reported that 16,700 residents worked as temporary employees in the fourth quarter of 1996, part of 62,900 temps in the state at that time. Temporary services are part of the commission's ``business services'' designation. That sector has grown in Hampton Roads from 26,900 workers in 1989 to 42,800 in the fourth quarter of 1996.

While ``most of the growth in business services comes from computer software,'' VEC senior economist Bill Mezger said, there is evidence that local temporary services have grown, too.

``I've been in this business for 16 years,'' said Ed Greene, president of Don Richard Associates of Tidewater, a temporary help and placement service. ``There were eight or nine temp agencies in 1981; now there may be 50.''

Last year was an especially good year for local temporary help firms.

``We experienced a significant increase in temporary placement billings, an increase of 60 percent,'' Greene said.

Anne O'Brian, clerical manager for Aarow Temporary Services in Chesapeake, said the hours billed for her firm's clerical work have at least doubled since March.

``Business is going well because workers want to do it,'' O'Brian said. Businesses benefit because ``it's not a long-term commitment. If business is sporadic, they can bring a person on and not have to worry about long-term obligations or liabilities.''

Mary Howell, business manager for Cox Communications Inc., agreed: ``We hire temps primarily because, as volumes increase or special projects come up, we can get a temp where we don't need an employee for 52 weeks of the year.

``We've almost always got somebody here in some capacity, to cover a vacation, if someone's on special leave or if there's a crunch.''

Cox is hiring for a new position, Howell said, but the duties have not been set. A temporary employee is there ``to help us get the job description straight.''

That's why Diane Gesik is there.

Gesik works for Don Richard Associates, which placed her at Cox. Since she began temporary work in August, she's been happy with the arrangement.

``I had been out of the accounting profession for a number of years,'' Gesik said.

After switching tracks to obtain a master's degree in education and working as a teacher, she decided to return to accounting and business. She went to Don Richard with her resume in hand.

``They suggested I temp,'' Gesik said. And since she's worked at Cox, ``I've been treated like a permanent employee from Day One.''

The only difference is that her paychecks come from a temporary service. All services are responsible for paying temporary workers, said Lubore of the VATSS. Services then bill clients.

Pay depends on position and skills of employees, as well as position in the industry.

``It's competitive,'' Lubore said. ``They can make as much as permanent employees.'' And get the same range of benefits, too.

``The majority have health insurance, vacation pay, bonuses - generally the same kinds of benefits other employees have,'' she said.

Benefits help, but more people are interested in temporary work because they're making career transitions or they need flexibility.

``Women are returning to the work force after raising children,'' Lubore said. ``Retirees want to work a day or two a week to stay active, or some people want to work a month and take a month off.''

For them, temporary work offers freedom and flexibility.

The downside is the prospect of not working. To avoid that fate, ``some people register with a lot of services,'' Lubore said.

Most services know about the practice, she said. They put aside competitiveness and have open relationships to keep good employees.

The VATSS lists its membership at 110 firms. Hampton Roads has about half of them, Lubore said.

As part of the industry's growth, the number of positions in technical fields is growing, too.

``There are an awful lot of individuals who get their foot in the door at several different companies,'' Lubore said. ``Temp work gives them the opportunity to prove themselves and get in the door.''

But will temps take over the workplace? Despite the impressive growth rate, don't expect anyone to play the role of conqueror.

``Only fools, economists and weathermen try to predict the future,'' said NATSS spokesman Bruce Steinberg.

There are many factors influencing growth in the industry, he said. The biggest is the strength of the national economy.

Halfway through 1997, the strong national economy helped temporary services set records for revenues and payroll, association statistics show.

Revenues for this year's second quarter were $12.5 billion, up nearly 11 percent from the first quarter, and about 15 percent higher than the second quarter of 1996.

Temporary services also generated a second-quarter payroll of $9.2 billion, more than 10 percent higher than the first quarter, and more than 20 percent higher than a year earlier.

But there is a risk that the economy can go soft, Steinberg said.

``Temporary work is mainly for overloads and special projects,'' he said. Hiring temporary help is among the first practices to go in a bad economy.

Greene recalled the economic downturn of the early 1990s.

``There was a recession going on,'' he said. Hampton Roads ``was hit by (Operation) Desert Storm, which took a lot of people out of the area.''

Around that time, the parent of Sovran Bank merged with NCNB Corp. of Charlotte to become NationsBank, Greene said, and Sovran's Norfolk operations went to North Carolina.

``Beverly Enterprises moved, and Royster sold out. There were a number of adverse factors that magnified a poor economy.''

Hampton Roads temporary services have seen steady growth since that time, though.

``Where it used to be the exception, now firms budget for their temporary help,'' Greene said.

But growth can cause problems.

``With relatively low unemployment, it becomes difficult to find people to fill temp positions,'' Greene said.

The same is true on the national level.

``One limiting factor for this industry as well as the general economy is that there are not enough qualified workers to meet the demand,'' Steinberg said. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

STEVE EARLEY

The Virginian-Pilot

Diane Gesik, Mary Howell...

Temporary Week

National Temporary Help Week, Oct. 13-19, was created 12 years

ago to pay tribute to the role played by more than 2 million

temporary workers in America.

In Hampton Roads, the Virginia Employment Commission reported

that 16,700 residents worked as temporary employees in the fourth

quarter of 1996, part of 62,900 temps in the state at that time.