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Temp-to-hire going more mainstream

Posted on April 4th, 2014 Read time: 1 minutes

The temporary services industry is becoming a way for contract workers to try jobs they haven't done before as well as to get back into a line of work they have been out of practice at for a while, according to Forbes. As the economy recovers, there is a shift of temporary work away from the retired baby boomer and the young skilled worker who was laid off and wants to take a break from full-time work, and more towards those who want to gain a full-time job through a position offered initially as contract work.

"Growth in temporary employment is typically an indicator that more permanent jobs are coming down the road," says Eric Gilpin, President of CareerBuilder's Staffing & Recruiting Group.

As such, certain fields in the temporary services industry are growing faster than others, according to Forbes. These include HR specialists, customer service reps and construction workers. These represent the jobs people are most interested in trying out, according to Forbes.

In a related story, Forbes describes the best cities for temporary workers to live. The top city is Grand Rapids Michigan, with 8 percent growth, and the next two cities are Indianapolis and Seattle-Tacoma. Both cities are experiencing jobs growth of about 6 percent.

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