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Personnel Supply Services

Nature of the Industry  |  Working Conditions  |  Employment  |  Occupations in the Industry
Training and Advancement  |  Job Outlook  |  Earnings

Significant Points

• Personnel supply services ranks among the fastest growing industries in the Nation and is expected to provide the most new jobs.
• Most temporary jobs in this industry only require graduation from high school, while some permanent jobs may require a bachelor’s or higher degree.
• Temporary jobs provide an entry into the workforce, supplemental income, and a bridge to full-time employment for many workers.

Nature of the Industry

Although many people associate the personnel supply services industry with temporary employment opportunities for clerical workers, the industry matches millions of people with millions of jobs, providing both temporary and permanent employment to individuals with a wide variety of education and managerial and professional work experience. Occupations in the industry range from secretary to computer systems analyst, and from general laborer to nurse. In addition to temporary jobs in these occupations, permanent positions in the industry include workers such as employment interviewers and marketing representatives who help assign and place workers in jobs. 

The personnel supply services industry has two distinct segments—employment agencies that place permanent employees, and help supply services, also referred to as temporary staffing agencies, that provide employees to other organizations on a contract basis. The typical employment agency has a relatively small permanent staff, usually fewer than 10 workers (see chart), who interview jobseekers and try to match their qualifications and skills to those being sought by employers for specific job openings. 

In contrast to the smaller employment agencies, half of all temporary staffing agencies employ more than 50 workers (see chart). Temporary staffing services firms or agencies provide temporary employees to other businesses to support or supplement their workforce in special situations, such as employee absences, temporary skill shortages, and varying seasonal workloads. Temporary workers are employed and paid by the temporary staffing services firm but are contracted out to a client for either a prearranged fee or an agreed hourly wage. Some companies choose to use temporary workers full time on an ongoing basis, rather than employ permanent staff, who typically would receive greater salaries and benefits. As a result, the overwhelming majority of workers in the temporary staffing services segment of the industry are temporaries; relatively few are permanent staff. 

Traditionally, firms that placed permanent employees usually dealt with highly skilled applicants, such as lawyers or accountants, and those placing temporary employees dealt with less skilled workers, such as administrative support occupations. However, temporary staffing services firms increasingly place workers who have a range of educational backgrounds and work experience because businesses now are turning to temporary employees to fill all types of positions—from administrative to managerial, financial, professional, and production. 

Working Conditions

The average annual workweek in the personnel supply services industry was about 32.6 hours in 2000, compared with the average of 34.5 hours across all industries. The low average work week reflects the fact that a temporary employee could work 40 or more hours a week on a contract for an extended period and then take a few weeks off from work. Most full-time temporary workers put in 35-40 hours a week, while some work longer hours. Permanent employees in employment agencies usually work a standard 40-hour week, unless seasonal fluctuations require more or fewer hours. 

Workers employed as permanent staff of employment agencies or temporary staffing services firms usually work in offices and may meet numerous people daily. Temporaries work in a variety of environments and often do not stay in any one place long enough to settle into a personal workspace or establish close relationships with coworkers. Most assignments are of short duration because temporaries may be called to replace a worker who is ill or on vacation or to help with a short-term surge of work. However, assignments of several weeks or longer occasionally may be offered. On each assignment, temporary employees may work for a new supervisor. 

Employment as a temporary is attractive to many. The opportunity for a short-term source of income while enjoying flexible schedules and opportunities to take extended leaves of absence is well-suited to students, persons juggling job and family responsibilities, those exploring various careers, and those seeking permanent positions in a chosen career. Firms try to accommodate workers’ preferences for particular days or hours of work and for frequency or duration of assignments. Temporary work assignments provide an opportunity to experience a variety of work settings and employers, to sharpen skills through practice, and to learn new skills. Nevertheless, many workers in temporary assignments would prefer the stability and greater benefits associated with full-time work. 

The annual injury and illness rate for the entire industry was 3.7 cases for every 100 full-time workers in 1999, lower than the rate of 6.3 for the entire private sector. Temporary workers in industrial occupations often perform work that is more strenuous and potentially more dangerous, so they may have a higher rate of injury and illness.. 

Employment

The personnel supply services industry provided 3.9 million jobs in 2000, almost 3.5 million of them in help supply services firms. Although about 18,000 of the almost 63,000 establishments in the industry are employment agencies, staffing services firms employ 9 out of 10 industry workers. Employment in staffing services companies has been experiencing dramatic growth, and employment projections indicate continuing rapid growth in personnel supply services. 

Employment in the personnel supply services industry is distributed throughout the United States. Workers are somewhat younger than those in other industries—nearly 50 percent of personnel supply services workers are under 35, compared with 38 percent of all workers, reflecting the large number of clerical and other entry-level positions in the industry that require little formal education.  

Occupations in the Industry

The personnel supply services industry encompasses many fields, from office and administrative support occupations to professional and production occupations (table 1). In general, occupations in the industry include the permanent staff of personnel supply services firms, and the variety of occupations supplied as temporary staff. 

The permanent staff of personnel supply service agencies is responsible for the daily operation of the firm. Many of these workers are in management, business, and financial, and sales and related occupations, which combined account for only about 1 out of 10 jobs in this industry. Managers ensure that the agency is run effectively, and they often conduct interviews of potential clients and jobseekers. Employment, recruitment, and placement specialists recruit and evaluate applicants and attempt to match them with client firms. Most work in the personnel supply services industry. Sales workers actively pursue new client firms and recruit qualified workers. Because of fierce competition among agencies, marketing and sales work at times can be quite stressful. 

The largest proportion—about 1 in 3—of all workers in this industry are in office and administrative support jobs. These positions may be either temporary or permanent. Experience in office and administrative support occupations usually is preferred for these jobs, although some persons take special training to learn skills such as bookkeeping and word processing. Receptionists greet visitors, field telephone calls, and perform assorted office functions. Secretaries perform a growing range of tasks, such as keyboarding and answering the telephone, depending on the type of firm in which they work. Medical secretaries make appointments and need a familiarity with common medical terms and procedures; legal secretaries must be familiar with the format of common legal documents. General office clerks file documents, type reports, and enter computer data. File clerks classify and store office information and records. Data entry keyers type information into a computer data base, either through a personal computer or directly into a mainframe computer. Word processors and typists enter and format drafts of documents using typewriters or computers. Bookkeeping clerks compute, classify, and record transaction data for financial records and reports. 

Production, transportation and material moving occupations account for another 37 percent of employment in the personnel supply services industry, and the share of these workers employed as temporaries is growing. Many of these jobs seldom require education beyond high school, although related work experience may be preferred for some. Others require significant experience and on-the-job training. Highly skilled assemblers and fabricators may assemble and connect parts of electronic devices, while those less skilled work on production lines continually repeating the same operation. Helpers perform a variety of mostly unskilled tasks. Laborers andfreight, stock, and material movers move goods to and from storage areas either in factories, warehouses, or other businesses. Hand packers and packagers wrap, package, inspect, and label materials manually, often keeping records of what has been packed and shipped. 

A growing number of temporary workers also are specialized professional and service workers, which account for another 17 percent of employment. Professional and related occupations include a variety of computer specialists and health care practitioners. Most of these occupations require at least 2 to 4 years of college. Computer programmers write, test, and maintain the detailed instructions, called programs or software, that computers must follow to perform their functions. Other computer specialists include computer support specialists who provide technical assistance, support, and advice to customers and users. Licensed practical nurses provide basic bedside care to patients. Registered nurses administer medication, tend to patients, and advise patients and family members about procedures and proper care. They usually work in hospitals, but they may be assigned to private duty in patients’ homes. 

Service workers employed on a temporary basis also include a number of health care support occupations. Home health aides usually work in the home of an elderly or ill patient, allowing a patient to stay at home instead of being institutionalized. Becoming a home health aide generally does not require education beyond high school. Nursing aides and orderlies also seldom need education beyond high school, but employers do prefer previous experience. They assist nurses with patient care in hospitals and nursing homes. 

The remainder of the workers in this industry includes those in farming, fishing, and forestry and installation, maintenance, and repair occupations. 

Training & Advancement

The personnel supply services industry offers opportunities in many occupations for workers with a variety of skill levels and experience. The majority of temporary jobs still only require graduation from high school or the equivalent, while some permanent jobs, such as those in management, may require a bachelor’s or higher degree. In general, the training requirements of temporary workers mirror those for permanent employees in the economy as a whole. As the industry expands to include various professional and managerial occupations, therefore, a growing number of jobs will require professional or advanced degrees. 

Many temporary staff services firms offer skills training to newly hired employees to make them more marketable. This training often is provided free to the temporary worker and is an economical way to acquire training in important skills such as word processing. Agency training policies vary, so persons considering temporary work should ask firms what training they offer and at what cost. 

Advancement as a temporary employee usually takes the form of pay increases or greater choice of jobs. More often, temporaries transfer to full-time jobs with other employers. Turnover among temporaries within help supply firms usually is very high because few choose to work as temporaries for long; many accept offers to work full time for clients for whom they worked as temporaries. Some experienced temporaries may be offered permanent jobs with help supply firms, either as receptionists or in positions screening or training others for temporary jobs. 

Permanent staff of employment agencies and temporary staff services firms typically are employment interviewers, administrative support workers, or managers. The qualifications required of employment interviewers depend partly on the occupations that the employment agency or help supply services firm specializes in placing. For example, agencies that place professionals, such as accountants or nurses, usually employ interviewers with college degrees in similar fields. Agencies specializing in placing administrative support workers, such as secretaries or word processors, are more likely to hire interviewers with less education who have experience in the occupations. 

Although permanent staff in administrative support occupations, such as receptionists, usually do not require formal education beyond high school, related work experience may be needed. Sometimes, staff experienced in administrative support occupations advance to employment interviewer positions. Employment interviewers advance to positions with higher earnings potential in which they interview persons seeking jobs with higher rates of pay. These positions often pay more because many interviewers receive a commission based on the fees paid by clients. 

Most managers of employment agencies and temporary staff services firms have college degrees; an undergraduate degree in personnel management or a related field is the best preparation for these jobs. Employment, recruitment, and placement specialists often advance to managerial positions, but seldom without a bachelor’s degree. 

Job Outlook

Personnel supply services ranks among the fastest growing industries in the Nation and is the industry projected to provide the most new jobs. The industry is expected to gain about 1.9 million new jobs over the period. Wage and salary employment in the personnel supply services industry is expected to grow 49 percent over the 2000-10 period, more than 3 times the 16-percent growth projected for all industries combined. 

Growth in demand for temporary employees has fueled the expansion of the industry and is attributable to a number of factors. As competition has grown, businesses have sought new ways to make their staffing patterns more responsive to changes in demand. To achieve this, they have increasingly hired temporary employees with specialized skills, to reduce costs and bridge areas where know-how or experience may be lacking. As governments and other organizations increasingly use temporary workers, demand is expected to continue increasing rapidly. This growth in demand, coupled with significant turnover in these positions, should create plentiful opportunities for persons who seek jobs as temporaries. 

Employment agencies also are expected to continue growing, but not as fast as temporary staffing services. Growth in these agencies stems from employers’ increasing willingness to allow outside agencies to perform the preliminary screening of candidates and the growing acceptance of executive recruitment services. However, online employment agencies operate without employment counselors and need fewer administrative support workers. Job postings on employer Web sites; online newspaper classified ads; and job matching sites operated by educational institutions and professional associations compete with this industry, thereby dampening employment growth. 

Most new jobs will arise in the largest occupational groups in this industry—office and administrative support occupations, production, and transportation and material moving occupations. However, the continuing trend toward specialization also will spur growth among professional workers, including engineers, computer specialists, and healthcare practitioners, as well as managers, as government increasingly contracts out management functions. In addition, growth of temporary staffing firms specializing in accounting, legal, and information technology services will provide more opportunities for professional workers within those fields. Marketing and sales representative jobs in temporary staffing firms also are expected to increase along with competition among these firms for the most qualified workers and the best clients.  

Earnings

Earnings vary as widely as the range of skills and formal education among workers in personnel supply services. As in other industries, managers and professionals earn more than clerks and laborers. Also, temporaries usually earn less than workers employed as permanent staff, but some experienced temporaries make as much or more than workers in similar occupations in other industries. Earnings in the largest occupations in personnel supply services appear in table 2.
 

Table 2. Median hourly earnings of the largest occupations in personnel supply services, 2000
Occupation	Personnel supply services	All industries
Registered nurses	$22.53	$21.56
Employment, recruitment, and placement specialists	16.67	17.54
Secretaries, except legal, medical, and executive	11.45	11.47
Customer service representatives	10.16	11.83
Data entry keyers	9.65	10.24
Receptionists and information clerks	9.53	9.63
Office clerks, general	9.38	10.16
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	7.62	9.04
Helpers--Production workers	7.47	8.66
Packers and packagers, hand	7.40	7.53

 
Most permanent workers receive basic benefits; temporary workers usually do not receive such benefits unless they work a minimum number of hours or days per week to qualify for benefit plans. Only 3.3 percent of workers in personnel supply services are union members or are covered by union contracts, compared with 14.9 percent of workers in all industries combined

Source: Career Guide to Industries, Bureau of Labor Statistics

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