[rcecale]

I've been checking out the help wanted ads lately and have noticed what seems to be a trend. It seems that more and more companies are using staffing agencies for hiring their personel. Not just for the temp-type jobs, but also for long term/permanent-type jobs as well.

In the IT world, I can certainly see the need for the contracts which last 3, maybe 6 months or so. the company is doing a major change and they need the temporary increase in their IT staff to pick up the extra workload involved...whether it be upgrading to a new OS throughout the enterprise, or imnplementing an entirely new accounting software package, etc. There always seems to be the need for the temp contractor. No problems here.

My real question concerns using a staffing company for longterm employment. I worked at a company a few years ago, a three-month temp job, but the manager I worked for was also a temp. Interestingly enough, we were both put in place by the same temp staffing company. We submitted our weekly timesheets together, etc, but she had been on the job for a few years. This is the part I don't quite understand. She was there for a year or so following my departure, with the IT Director wanting to bring us both on full-time. Unfortunately, he said his hands were tied and that his budget didn't allow for it...not even for her, despite her longevity there.

Aside from the money the company is paying the staffing company to pay the employee, they also have to pay the staffing company for their costs as well. And from what I've heard, this is often times equal to or even more than what they pay the employee!

What are the benefits to using a staffing company over doing a direct hire of an employee for long-term positions?

Randy