Temporary international staff may help businesses recover from the recession

April 6, 2011

Temporary payrolls were up by 28,800 last month, pushing the percentage of temporary employees in the workforce up to 1.73 percent – the highest seen since 2008, according to Reuters.

Perceptions of temporary jobs are also changing lately – whereas before, they were largely considered by both employers and workers to be low-skill jobs for those who couldn’t find anything permanent, today’s temp jobs are dramatically different. As companies recover from the recession, they’re hiring temporary workers to meet project-specific needs and to provide the company with much-needed flexibility to allow the firm to thrive despite lingering economic uncertainty. As a result, there are now temps is relatively high-level positions in fields like engineering, law, finance and management. The news source reports that Sterling Bancorp, a business bank that lends money to staffing companies, has seen especially dramatic spikes in demand for temporary workers with professional backgrounds.

“Clients got lean, but their business has been strong enough that they need talent,” Tig Gilliam, head of North American operations for employment services firm Adecco. For this reason, professional temporary workers have been especially valued by businesses during this stage of the economic recovery.

Firms are also seeking to innovate and come out of the recession more prepared for global business than before, and for this reason, many are relying on international interns as well as domestic temps and permanent workers. While temporary workers provide a way for firms to meet increasing demand for their products and services without incurring too much risk, temporary international workers also serve to prepare a company to compete on a global scale as soon as it gets back on its feet.

When they’re hired through a cultural exchange organization, temporary international trainees not only bring their unique backgrounds to the table, but they also expose their permanent, domestic counterparts to new cultures. At the end of the experience, the trainee returns to his or her country of origin with valuable professional development from having worked for an American firm. The company’s permanent workers emerge with a greater appreciation for international approaches and an enhanced ability to do business across cultures – an asset that is sure to help their employer perform more successfully in the globalized business world.