The internet has had a profound impact on the employment market, rendering everything from searching for job postings to boosting one’s resume, forging new business relationships to choosing which job offer to accept more convenient than ever before. On the other hand, however, the online world is comprised also of a veritable smorgasbord of misinformation, with self-proclaimed journalists willing to go to any lengths for a story. And, where the job market is concerned, one especially damaging claim floating around the web is that individuals seeking employment should be cautious of working with staffing agencies.
The warning goes something like this: Staffing firms are impersonal entities that seek to gain profit by taking advantage of job-seekers. This is achieved by luring individuals who are desperate for work into signing ambiguously defined contracts, placing them in unhealthy work environments, and/or firing them without offering either an explanation or help finding alternative employment.
Now, anyone with a shred of common sense will easily see that these ridiculous policies would put any offending staffing agency out of business sooner than not. The question, then, is this: Are these fears substantiated at all? According to experts such as ourselves, not in the least.
The demand for temporary workers has risen dramatically over the course of the past several years. In fact, according to a recent IQNdex report, in spite of the country’s weak overall job market, in early 2013 the United States economy demonstrated a robust demand for staffing agency employees, contract employees, temp workers, freelancers, and independent professionals. This being the case, staffing firms have come to play an increasingly vital role in fulfilling the specific needs of the present-day job market by connecting employers with highly qualified, highly compatible job-seekers.
Staffing firms offer job-seekers a number of advantages over those individuals who would choose to embark upon the journey to employment solo. In order to limit their pool of applicants, for instance, a growing number of employers have elected to eschew public forum-based advertising in favor of hiring only through staffing firms. Staffing firms can thus help to maximize one’s chance of employment success by providing access to positions that are not posted elsewhere.
The benefits of staffing agencies also extend far beyond the initial stages of the employment search, as these organizations also work to ensure that the newly employed individual and his or her employer maintain a healthy relationship in the long-term. For example, by advising an employee throughout the early stages of the hiring process—say, when negotiating the terms of a contract—the staffing firm endeavors to make certain that the new hire advocates for his or her job satisfaction needs, thereby diminishing the potential for conflict down the road.
Staffing agency professionals like those at Staffing KC understand that sometimes a given job just isn’t for you. In the case that an individual encounters an unresolvable conflict in his or her new workplace, a staffing professional can help that person transition out of an unhealthy work environment and into a satisfactory one.
In today’s economy, job-seekers need all the help they can get. Experts agree that staffing agencies represent one of the most valuable resources available to the unemployed.
This article is brought to you by Staffing Kansas City, a full-service Kansas City employment agency that provides contract-to-hire, direct hire and temporary employment placement services.
