Eu Workers the economy grows, businesses hire more workers to meet demand. One option they use is to bring in temporary employees, also known as temps. However, hiring temps comes at a price. Research shows that temp agency employment significantly drives down wages for everyone working in the same industry, especially in industries where unions have a strong presence. Additionally, using temps as an anti-union strategy allows employers to divide and conquer their workforces, undermine union organizing drives, break strikes and dampen wage demands at the bargaining table.
How Temporary Workers Agencies Can Help During Seasonal Peaks
Workers hired by temp agencies work at the user company under the supervision of a staffing agency, which performs only nominal employer functions, such as issuing paychecks, withholding payroll taxes and carrying worker’s compensation insurance. This arrangement masks the user company’s role as the real boss, resulting in minimal legal and public accountability for employing a class of workers paid sub-standard wages and denied the rights and benefits that normally accompany direct-hire employment arrangements.
Increasingly, temporary agency jobs are project-based, and payments are linked to deliverables, results, or productivity. This is a major shift for temporary agencies, which will need to ensure they are providing their clients with the right kind of talent to meet business needs. As a result, they will need to emphasize soft skills assessment and training, such as teamwork and adaptability, in addition to technical competence. Similarly, they will need to incorporate site- and task-specific safety and health training for their employees and provide them with all necessary equipment.
