Temporary agencies are an important part of gaining
experience and provide opportunities for employment that may have not been
available otherwise. Temporary agencies offer short-term and recruitment level
staffing for organizations that are growing but do not want to hire permanent
full-time employees. It offers organizations flexibility in ensuring the
company has the necessary skills and abilities without making a long-term
commitment. There are a few benefits and detractors job seekers should consider
before joining a temp agency.
No
Benefits
Temporary work doesn’t come with the benefits you
would find in full-time employment positions. With the advent of Obamacare such
workers can opt to secure their own insurance but there is no obligation for
the employer to offer such insurance as most assignments are under the required
amount of hours that make them full-time.
Gaining
Needed Experience
Despite not having insurance employees that have
minimal experience in a particular field may still want to find employment
through a temp agency as the shorter assignments can offer a better opportunity
to gain needed experience. Within a few short years you can be exposed to a
wide variety of work environments and methodologies making it more likely to
find full-time employment.
Lack
of Employer Investment
One of the reasons why agencies temporary agencies
work for entry-level employees is because they offer a wide level of experience
but not deeper levels of experience needed by seasoned professionals. Companies are not going to spend much on
training temporary workers on new software, systems, and skills making such
positions limited beyond a few short years. If you want to progress in your
career you will eventually need to find a permanent placement.
Finding
a Right Fit
At times employers may hire a temporary worker if
they feel the employee matches the company’s needs. A temp position can act as
a trial period for both the employee and the employer who want to determine whether
or not a future match can be made. Such positions can be on trial for 6-12
months.
Few
Worker Rights
Even though every employer should follow certain moral
and legal standards the use of temp agencies help to skirt some of those
obligations. Because employees are
contract workers it is not necessary to inform the temp agency why you want
someone removed from the workplace. A phone can is all that is needed to get a
new worker and this opens employees up to a whole range of abuse from discrimination
to retaliation.
Working for a temp agency is a mixed bag but does
offer some possibilities for entry-level employees to gain new experiences and
basic industry skills to obtain more permanent employment. Companies use such agencies to grow their
business without having a long-term commitment and temp workers should understand
that the majority of assignments will not lead to employment offers. Such workers should be aware that temp work
should be just that, temporary work, and offers short-term employment
solutions.
