Dive Brief:
- As the labor market recovers from the pandemic, temporary jobs are rebounding the fastest. The growth signals an upcoming renaissance in traditional opportunities, according to a March 25 analysis by staffing company PeopleReady.
- The fastest growing temp jobs in the last 30 days include equipment operators, painters, material movers, retail store associates and assembly production associates.
- "Many job seekers are looking to temp jobs for the flexibility they need as their priorities have shifted over the past year, and others are taking temp jobs while the permanent job market recovers," PeopleReady President Taryn Owen said of the analysis.
Dive Insight:
The coronavirus pandemic initially boosted demand for temp workers, according to an October 2020 report by G. Palmer & Associates. But the gains were diminished when financial uncertainty caused a slowdown in hiring, the firm said.
More specifically, the American Staffing Association recorded a fall in temporary and contract staffing jobs that resembled "Great Recession levels" in the second quarter of 2020. But the levels rebounded in the second half of the year, the group said in March 2021.
Before the pandemic, temporary employment was predicted to outpace traditional job growth. The flexible, fast-paced nature of temp work allowed employers to source talent quickly in a tight labor market, one analyst reasoned.
As Owen, PeopleReady president, remarked, temp jobs may offer flexibility that traditional opportunities may not be able to achieve, though many employers have touted flexible offerings in response to the coronavirus and the challenges it created.
