Temp groups target low-income job-seekers

January 30, 2009

A new form of temporary staffing is showing promise for employers as well as job seekers who face multiple barriers to employment, a new study says.

"Alternative staffing organizations" are nonprofits that provide temporary staffing services coupled with support services for low-income jobseekers.

Such groups help increase the chances of finding employment for people who face barriers and otherwise might not be employable, says the report from Public/Private Ventures.

The support services provided by alternative staffing organizations aim to help people overcome such obstacles to employment as criminal records, homelessness or lack of a high-school diploma.

They also aim help job-seekers find long-term stable employment once their temporary assignments are concluded.

Such services not only can offset many of the barriers low-income job seekers face, they can have a positive effect on job retention, wages and job placement, the report says.

Four organizations participated in the study: First Source Staffing, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Goodwill Staffing Services, Austin; Goodwill Staffing Services, Boise and Nampa, Idaho; and EMERGE Staffing, Minneapolis.

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