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Soft skills just as important as hard skills

Posted on July 29th, 2014 Read time: 2 minutes

Soft skills are at least as important as hard skills, according to Business Management Daily. This may not seem to relate to being a temporary worker, but temps can gain soft skills in areas that permanent workers may not have the same access to. By working with many different people at many different jobs with a multitude of bosses and corporate cultures, it can be easy for a temp to develop a talent for working with many groups. In contrast, someone who works at a permanent job will always face the same employees.

In any case, whether someone works as a temp or not, the best way to gain skills is with a job rather than staying at home without a job, and so even if a temporary worker gains his or her soft skills at the same pace as a permanent worker, then at least the temp is working. Many people give up on having a job without ever trying out an employer of record. It may be best to think of the temporary staffing industry as a place to build the necessary skills to one day be employed.

Paying for what something is worth while still saving money
A recent study by staffing company Aerotek found that 51 percent of respondents pay below what their competitors are paying. This can make it difficult to attract top talent. People who already know the ropes and have gained the necessary job skills deserve to be compensated appropriately. If companies want to save money, they can do so by helping out temps who may be equally experienced as full-time workers, but will cost less because there is less overhead.

"Employers should view their talent as an investment rather than an expense, with the understanding that higher compensation can lead to more qualified candidates, increased productivity and greater levels of engagement and retention," said Dave Poling, director of recruiting operations at Aerotek.

Those who cannot afford this investment on a full-time basis can get the same hard work and experience while saving money through temps.

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