Staffing services is a $72 billion industry Temporary help services account for the lion's share (nearly $60 billion) of staffing industry revenue. Although it's important to understand the distinctions between these types of staffing services, keep in mind that the lines between them have become indistinct and, in fact, have nearly disappeared. Many services do all these types of staffing.

This is a good time to be in the staffing industry. According to industry experts: "The industry continues to grow very aggressively; there is double-digit growth in the industry as a whole, and especially in the segments that place professional, technical kinds of levels of skills." "I think generally, broadly stated, it isn't just the IT [information technology] segment that is driving the growth; it's really a much wider range of professional skills." The staffing services industry is currently the second fastest-growing industry in the United States. There are well over 7,000 staffing services in the nation. "The industry is experiencing healthy growth in the midst of a very tight labor market.," "Most staffing companies have more orders than they have people to fill those orders."

Broadly speaking, staffing services are all of the following:

• Employers. Staffing services take on qualified candidates as employees. Such services therefore not only pay their employees, but also withhold income tax and pay workers' compensation, disability and unemployment insurance.

• Businesses. All companies have clients and products. In the staffing industry, clients are the companies that contract for labor or expertise, and the product is that very labor or expertise. As with any corporation, staffing services are in business to make money, which they do either by adding their markup to all labor charges or by charging clients a finder's fee.

• Contractors. Temporary help and staffing services provide business organizations with employees for positions in all sectors of employment, from industrial to clerical to professional. In other words, staffing services match employees to client companies.

Types of Staffing Services Now that you know, in the very broadest sense, what a staffing service is, let's discuss the different types. Here they are:

• Temporary staffing services make up the largest chunk of the staffing industry. Temporary staffing services supply client companies with workers on a short-term basis, either to fill in for an absent employee or to supplement existing staff during particularly busy times.

• Long-term staffing services, also known as "facilities staffing," specialize in placing employees in long-term assignments, for indefinite periods of time.

• Project-related assignments, such as those found in the professional and technical sectors, often require long-term staffing.

• Temp-to-perm staffing services are often combined with a temporary staffing service. A temp-to-perm staffing service offers clients a chance to try out a worker on a temporary basis and to hire that worker later if the client wishes to do so.

Staffing Service Sectors The industry gets even more interesting when you examine the different sectors within it. The staffing services industry is divided into the following sectors:

• Health care. This sector excludes home health-care personnel. It refers to supplemental staffing of facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes. Just over 2 percent of the staffing services industry belongs to this sector, which includes such positions as the following: physicians, lab technician, licensed practical nurse, medical assistant, medical technologist and registered nurse and many others.

• Office and clerical. Today, this remains the largest sector and accounts for 40.5 percent of the industry payroll. Per anum wages paid to temporary workers in this sector recently totaled $17.6 billion.

• Industrial. Currently the second-largest sector, this sector accounts for 34.5 percent of the industry payroll and includes the following positions: assembler, bindery worker, machine operator, construction worker, electrician, maintenance worker, manufacturing employee, millwright, pipefitter and shipping/receiving clerk.

• Technical. Currently, this sector comprises 10.9 percent of the industry. Information technology is part of this sector, as are other technical areas, including such positions as computer programmer, engineer and interface designer. Recent figures show total annual wages paid to technical workers at nearly $4.8 billion.

• Professional. This is the fastest growing of all the sectors. It currently accounts for 6.4 percent of the industry and is often further divided into staffing niches that include such fields as accounting, law and business. Annual wages paid to temporary workers in the professional sector recently climbed to nearly $2.8 billion, a more than eight-fold increase since 1991.

• Marketing. This sector comprises .7 percent of the industry and accounts for nearly $300 million in annual wages paid to temporary workers.

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