TEMPS: SERVICE PROVIDES TESTING GROUND FOR NEW WORKERS

As companies grow, typically they invest profits in equipment and inventory while expanding their work force.

Equipment can be insured against loss and inventory is sold off quickly, but employers often face frustration when a new employee doesn't work out often after weeks of applicant screening, interviews and expensive, time-consuming training.

The solution? A growing number of companies today rely on temporary employment services to provide workers for part-time help and as a trial for potential full-time hires.

The temporary employment company takes care of payroll, employment taxes and often provides benefits to the temporary workers.

Jackie Cecil, director of the Missouri Job Service office at Cape Girardeau, said temps are a good way for companies to avoid the up-front hassles associated with hiring.

"They can call one temporary agency and say, `I need 30 people,' and it's up to agency to get those 30 people there," Cecil said. "The employer doesn't have to go through all the gyrations to get the 30 people there, and the temporary service is responsible for the payroll for those employees."

From clerical to light industrial and general labor, temporary services provide a wide range of employee skills. Some, such as Manpower Inc., also provide highly technical employees.

Manpower is the world's largest temporary help firm, annually providing employment to about 1.5 million people through nearly 2,000 offices in 39 countries.

The company's original business was geared to providing temps for light industrial or factory jobs.

But today, even though the whole pie has grown, the office temp portion now makes up about 65 percent of the company's business.

Barbara Larkins, manager of the Cape Girardeau branch of Manpower at 106 Farrar Drive, said the local agency has grown dramatically in the past couple years.

"We've grown to the point where we just opened an office in Sikeston," Larkins said. "I would say that we have doubled in the last year, in both our customers and temporaries.

"Employers like to work with temporaries, often just to get a feel if the person is suited for that type of work," she added. "It's also a great way for employees to find out if that's what they want to do."

Penny Huckabee, office manager at Sincerely Yours Secretarial in Cape Girardeau, said her office has seen "extreme growth" in the past three months.

She said employers like the chance to observe a potential full-time employee on the job before committing to a hire.

"For the employer and the employee it's a good way to see if the position is going to work out," Huckabee said. "They're not obligated to take any job on if they don't think it's what they want.

"It gives them a feel for what they're getting themselves into."

Personnel Support Inc., at 618 Bellevue in Cape Girardeau, is another temporary employment service that's undergone significant growth.

Mike Cochran, president and owner of Personnel Support, said the growth largely is due to the business community educating itself about the advantages of hiring temps.

"I think it was more of an educational challenge to let them know what a temp company was and how to use it effectively," Cochran said. "I think now most of them understand that a temp company can be an asset."

There are many reasons companies choose to hire temps rather than permanent employees, not the least of which is uncertainty about national economic trends.

Companies nationwide are reporting more overtime for existing workers and the hiring of more temps as they take a "wait and see" attitude regarding the budget, taxes and the nation's economy.

"That's certainly one aspect of it," said Cochran. "There is a degree of uncertainty out there.

"They may not directly say it, but they may have a need for some people and are not sure whether the need will continue into a full-time, continuing position.

"We can fill that need without any long-term obligation on their part."

Government regulation also can encourage the use of temps. Midwest Sterilization Company, a Jackson firm that sterilizes medical products, is subject to ongoing training requirements mandated by the federal Food and Drug Administration.

Audry Eldridge, president and owner of Midwest Sterilization, said he uses temporary services to provide the training, which typically takes three to six months.

"One of the big reasons we use them is because of government regulations," Eldridge said. "The FDA specifies that our employees have to have a certain amount of ongoing training.

"Rather than hire people directly ourselves, we hire through temporary agencies and put them through a training program. If they're successful in the training, then we go ahead and hire them."

Biokyowa, a local firm that manufactures livestock feed additives, uses temps for non-essential personnel as a matter of policy.

Dan Keefer, office manager for the company, said it's a policy that's worked well.

"I do use more than one temporary employment service," Keefer said. "I've learned over time that various services can be depended on for various kinds of labor, and I'll use them accordingly."

Biokyowa contracts full-time for its janitorial service. Other part-time and seasonal work such as painting and grounds keeping is handled by temps.

A training ground for permanent employees, temporary services also serve as a proving ground for ambitious workers.

"You'll find that just by chance you'll get a person that has some skills that you need on a full-time basis," Keefer said. "It's an excellent way to see how good the fit is between the company and the employee."

The temporary employment agencies also cater to their clients. At Personnel Support, Cochran has a "prehire" program through which companies are able to hire temps on a part-time basis as a "trial" to see if they're the person they want to fill a full-time position.

"We find the people, screen them, and take a lot of the front-end load off," Cochran said. "When our temps ask how long a particular job is going to last, we tell them, `That's up to you.'

"We just throw it back on them. It's their responsibility, and they're in control."

Manpower, with its international headquarters situated in Milwaukee, has developed a training program for its clerical workers that other corporations have adopted.

The company also provides industrial testing for industrial markets.

Larkins said, "We can test exactly for whatever type of industrial production work is required to see if an employee is suited for that work.

"Industry is discovering that there are a lot of skills necessary to do even unskilled work," she added. "It's sometimes hard to find workers geared toward a certain task."