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Staffing agencies, small businesses evolve with the times

Posted on June 7th, 2011 Read time: 1 minutes

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, temporary employment was 12.5 percent higher in March, year-over-year. Statistics revealed that the staffing industry added 29,000 workers in March of 2011, and temporary staffing firms have added about 500,000 workers to industry payrolls since August 2009.

The wavering economy has transformed the way staffing agencies conduct business. Today, these firms provide a full range of employment services beyond just outsourcing temporary workers. They also have employees available for gap coverage, temp-to-perm positions, contract work, payroll services and permanent placement, the Post-Crescent reports.

Smaller companies may prefer to use agencies to keep their staff under 50 full-time employees as a strategic move to give them flexibility when President Barack Obama's healthcare mandates become official in 2014. According to the Kentucky Post, the Affordable Healthcare Act will require everybody to buy a national healthcare plan, and not knowing the full cost of benefits will dissuade small business from making potentially costly hires.

Those who believe the mandate gives the federal government too much power oppose the rule. However, many feel that without the mandate, people will wait until after they are sick to buy insurance, becoming potentially much more expensive patients.

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