The staffing industry has seen huge changes during the last decade that are on par with economic upheavals and technological advances. This has resulted in companies changing their hiring strategy that consisted of relying more on contract staffing agencies for their hiring needs. Contract staffing has emerged as a big business and has seen an incredible growth in 2014 with expectations of further growth in the coming years. According to the data released by the American Staffing Association or ASA, the U.S. staffing companies employed on an average of 3.26 temporary and contract workers per week during the third quarter of 2014 that is about 6.1% increase for the same period of 2013.
This data reflects the fact that staffing industry employment has returned to per-recession levels with businesses continuing to increase the size of their flexible and permanent workforce in response to the sustained demand for their services and products. As per the ASA report, the staffing industry employment was up by 3.6% from the second quarter to the third quarter of 2014 that added on an average of more than 113,300 workers per week. The temporary and contract staffing sales were 6.2% higher during the third quarter of 2014 compared with the same period during 2013 thereby totaling to $29.45 billion.
The data further highlights that nearly 90% of temporary and contract employees say that the staffing work made them more employable. The recruiters or employers are discovering how profitable and easy is contract staffing can be. Nevertheless, it is a fact that profitability is tied directly as majority of enterprises has short-term staffing needs and they are always on the look out to reduce their overall overhead costs. In addition, there is a huge demand for professional and technical contractor workforce. Contracting provides a steady cash flow as contract staff get paid for every hour that they work and the flexibility that contract staffing offers to the recruiter or the contract staffing agency.
Each year, more and more enterprises across the United States are opting to utilize contract employees for number of reasons that includes the need of specific skill sets to meet the deadlines or work on projects without having to hire a full time employee. Contracting also offers companies to have an affordability to “try before they buy” option to hire the candidate on a direct hire or permanent basis if the concerned candidate is talented. This is the reason why there is a demand for contract staffing services.