For this assignment, I took a trip to two different temporary employment agencies in Riverside County. A temporary employment agency is an organization which matches employers and employees together. Doing this they bring in revenue by taking a percentage of what the employee would have made had they found the job alone. Companies hire through temp agencies because it can be more cost effective because they do not have to provide some of the same benefits as their fulltime permanent employees. Many temp agencies are geared toward specialties or professions such as health care (Medical Staffing Network) or technical services (Frontline Source Group).
The two that I visited were Manpower in Temecula, California and Helpmates in Lakeview, California. At these agencies I had the opportunity to visit with various people and hear a few different stories. Many of the applicants were individuals who were not college educated. All were just looking for employment to make ends meet. The main thing that I noticed was that these positions if they were for an extended period of time, it did not exceed 18 months. One individual I meet who was applying for the 18 month position has a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and was working as a representative at the parks and recreation but lost his job due to budget cut backs. He is now in competition with individuals who failed to even graduate high school.
Some of the stories of the people at these agencies were sad and some were clear defined lines of the minorities being taken advantage of by the majorities (the companies with the money). At Helpmates, any individual who was on a job for 18 months, the company had the option to hire them as permanent staff or they let them go and then could pick them up again after 6 months of not working at the same company. This means that the employee has to figure out what to do for money for six months and then hope to get hired back on and then get retained as permanent staff. The interest of these two groups are very different, the companies are using temp agencies for cheap labor that they have minimal responsibility or accountability to or for. The workers are trying to make as much money as possible to provide for their families the best way possible.
The haves vs the have nots
This concept, while I understand the reason behind it, is such a catch-22. Many companies are struggling in this economy, as are individuals and families. Is it better to have this type of opportunity and secure a paycheck for the unemployed, even if the length of time the individual is employed is undetermined and lacking health benefits, or is it merely a band-aid to a much bigger issue? This is just another example of why our unemployment rate is such an inaccurate way to view employment in the U.S. Too many people go unaccounted for in this number because they are working temporarily, often through employment agencies,or are working part-time, both situations that are not ideal and often do not fulfil the individual's and his or her family's needs. So our data is sadly very skewed, and does not show the true level of hardship and struggle our country is facing.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to get other perspectives aside from the three that were asigned to us, so thank you! It's really frustrating to hear that an individual with a college degree is now in competition with those who do not even have a high school diploma. We hear everyday the importance in education, but in cases such as this, education seems does not seem to play much relevance. With the current budget cuts many CSU campuses are experiencing along with the tuition increase, it is difficult to motivate others to continue on with their education when it is evident that both parties without and without college degrees are competing for similar jobs.
ReplyDeleteThis is intersting to me because I never knew the full details about temp agencies. The majority really runs the minority. I think one of the most important things about this is the fact that the college grad has to compete with those who didn't graduate from high school. It shows the importance of continuing education and getting a Master's and possibly Doctoral degree. It also shows that these big companies that hold all the money, will do all they can to get more money.
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