"I think temporary hiring is less useful a signal than it used to be," says John Silvia, chief economist at Wells Fargo. "Companies aren't testing the waters by turning to temporary firms. They just want part-time workers."
The reasons vary. But economists and business people say the main obstacle is that employers lack confidence that the economic rebound has staying power. Many fear their sales and the overall economy will remain weak or even falter as consumers spend cautiously.
Companies also worry about higher costs related to taxes or health care measures being weighed by Congress and statehouses. That's what Chris DeCapua, owner of employment firm Dawson Careers in Columbus, Ohio, is hearing from clients.
DeCapua says corporate demand for temporary workers has surged. That's especially true for manufacturing-related jobs involving driving forklifts, assembling products, packing merchandise and loading it on trucks.
Yet that demand hasn't spilled over into a demand for permanent workers. And DeCapua doesn't see it turning around anytime soon.
"There is so much uncertainty, and when there is uncertainty people and companies hold onto their checkbooks," DeCapua says.
Companies "don't want to hire permanent workers and then have to turn around and get rid of them six months later," he says.
The whole "uncertainty of legislation makes it tough to hire" excuse is so much bullshit it's not even funny. The uncertainty is because of the economy itself The reality is employers get to have it both ways: they get to have cheap labor with no insurance benefits if demand picks up, and expendable labor to get rid of (or better yet a supply of scabs to use to replace more expensive workers with benefits) should demand go down.
Folks, these jobs are going away permanently. They are being replaced by a new crop of temp jobs with no benefits and far less pay. They will become permanent temp positions with a high turnover rate.
We're on our way to becoming a day laborer society.
Take my experience for the anecdote that it is, but I have had the EXACT OPPOSITE happen.
ReplyDeleteI work in a retail related field and I have gone from part time (barely livable hours) to full time with "bennies" in the past year, and am also looking at a small raise in the next six months.
To be sure, the overall trend is a depressed one, but I don't think that we are doomed to stay that way if (for instance) benefits are picked up by the state via a HCR bill, allowing small businesses the ability to hire folks without being buried in health insurance costs.
But, I would add two caveats to my situation: 1) I'm mid 20s and in perfect health 2) we laid off people last years at the same time my hours were cut, those folks aren't getting their jobs back.
Still, work-week hours are up and that IS good news, even if benefits aren't being restored.
Yeah, I've had a similar experience myself. And I've also seen more than a few people getting erased.
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