Are IT Jobs Threatened By Decline in Temp Employment?
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As growth in employment at IT services companies slows, according to government data, temporary staffing companies have seen a drop in the number of workers they employ, a possible harbinger of cuts in permanent jobs. |
Last month, the number of people employed by temporary help services companies such as Manpower and Kelley Services fell by 20,500 workers, which could include some IT professionals, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, during that same period, the number of people employed by IT services companies rose by 2,300. Still, the growth in IT services employment slowed by nearly half when compared with June.
Bill Trimmer, a 53-year-old former IT worker in Pittsburgh, had nearly 60 temp assignments over the past three years, but has found few opportunities recently. "People are scared right at the moment," Trimmer told The Wall Street Journal. "If people aren't looking for help, if they're just trying to retrench and retrench and retrench ... it doesn't pay my bills." Trimmer, the paper reported, was performing database work at a small technology company from last fall until May, when the firm he declined to identify decided to outsource his job to India when financial expectations were not met. "The first person to go was the temp," he said.
It's a fairly common practice among many businesses to cut temporary workers before dismissing permanent employees. In 2001, The Journal noted, a decline in temporary employment began 10 months before overall employment began to fall.
