Factors Influencing the Increase in Temporary Employment - Essay Example

Temporary employees subsume all forms of non-standard or contingent employment, including part time and contract workers. Originating early in the 1980s, temporary employment has been on a constant rise not just in the United States, but across Europe and the developed world (Hardy and Walker, 2003 p.141) According to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the growth in temporary employment through the 1990s was dramatic (Golden And Appelbaum 1992 p.473). A survey carried out late in the 1990s indicated that approximately 90% of U.

S business and about 95% of the Fortune 500 firms employed temporary employees or used the services of temporary employment agencies. This rise in the demand and supply of temporary employment is unprecedented. Though, temporary employment used to be restricted to clerical and office jobs, its growth has now encompassed almost every job type. Areas that have witnessed raid increase in temporary employment includes professional, services and technological corporations. However, companies use temporary employees to fill vacancies caused by employee absentee, special assignments, seasonal work increases and temporary workers shortages.

In addition, employers often make use of temporary employee to fill staff vacancies when they do not intend to increase their staff strength (Temporary Employment, 2005). The first te. employers often make use of temporary employee to fill staff vacancies when they do not intend to increase their staff strength (Temporary Employment, 2005).Background of problem: The first temporary employment firms began operations in the 1940s. It was not until the 1980s and 1990s, however, that temporary employment grew rapidly.

Annual average temporary employment grew from 340,000 in 1978 to 695,000 by 1985, increasing three times faster than total service sector employment and eight times faster than total nonagricultural employment. The temporary employment industry experienced its most explosive growth in the early 1990s, expanding by an average of 17 percent a year. Annual average temporary employment rose to 2.2 million workers by 1996 and to nearly 2.8 million by 1998 with an annual growth rate of about 9 percent.

Between 1992 and 1998, 18.4 million non-agricultural jobs were added to the U.S. economy. Temporary employment accounted for 1.4 million of these jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The BLS predicts that the temporary employment will increase by 53 percent by 2006, making it one of the most rapidly expanding industries. Overall, temporary employment accounts for about 2 percent of the country's employment. In the late 1990s, temporary employment agencies began investing greater more in training employees for their assignments.

A NATSS survey from 1998 reported that temporary employment agencies spent $720 million on training 1997, in contrast to only $260 million in 1995. The survey also indicated that 4.8 million workers participated in the training programs and that about 90 percent of all temporary employment agencies provide training for free. Statement of the problem:This section of the research put the