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How permanent workers should treat temps

Posted on February 14th, 2014 Read time: 1 minutes

Dealing with temporary workers in an office can cause some anxiety for permanent hires, but a new article in the Chicago Red Eye humorously suggests ways of dealing with the influx of new labor. The article advises permanent workers to remember that temps are sometimes hired because they have special skills that other people in the office don't have. That means workers shouldn't treat temps with condescension, like they don't know what they're doing. In fact, a temp may have been hired because he or she knows exactly how to do something permanent staff isn't trained on.

Additionally, the article advices permanent workers to treat temps like guests, and to keep the office cleaner than usual because it might otherwise be off-putting to contract workers who aren't used to being there. Also, going along with the theme of treating temps like guests, workers should expect temporary staff to need a few days to get used to the office and the corporate culture.

According to Employment Spot, temp workers are useful to companies because they are so economical to hire, and because it means the workforce can be expanded or contracted quickly as the market goes up and down. Temps also benefit from the exposure to many different workplaces and different kinds of jobs.

While some temporary workers may be hired by a company, it doesn't mean that permanent workers will be fired. A certain amount of calm ought to be encouraged in a work place with new temps.

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