Flexible Staffing: A Boon for American Business

Flexible Staffing: A Boon for American Businesses
Temporary and contract staffing brings companies the flexibility and access to talent they need to hone their competitive edge. Here are some things others are saying about staffing's valuable role, and some key staffing statistics.
In a survey of staffing firm clients, nine out of 10 agree that "staffing companies offer flexibility to businesses so that they can keep fully staffed during busy times.
"The temporary help industry helped to increase employment in manufacturing by allowing firms to expand their labor forces in the face of uncertain demand conditions." Employment Policies Institute
According to an American Management Association survey, 91% of human resource managers rate flexibility in staffing issues as important, and 95% use temporary and contract employees to achieve that flexibility.
More than 20% of staffing employees used by American companies fill professional-managerial roles.
A survey of Conference Board members, mostly global companies, found that 90% use staffing services.
"Increased reliance on contingent (i.e., temporary and part-time) labor is associated with superior subsequent performance [and] no increase in systematic risk. We believe our evidence supports the contention that the practice of using contingent workers improves gross profit margins." Decision Sciences
On the average day, 3 million temporary and contract employees go to work for American businesses.
Of the 12.1 million temporary and contract employees hired by U.S. staffing firms in 2005, more than 5.5 million moved into permanent positions. Staffing employees are a rich talent pool to fill permanent jobs.