This post was originally published May 22, 2012, but we felt it was poignant enough to re-publish for all you new readers out there.
I love getting stories like this in my inbox. The woman who sent this to me felt like it was too cheesy for her style — so she asked me to keep it anonymous.
I can tell you, however, she means every word of it.
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I have been in the staffing and recruiting industry for over 11 years now. When I first started off, I was just out of college. It was my first real office position outside of my multiple internships while in school. When I first came out of college, I hit the ground running full steam. I took the world by storm. No one could stop me and no one could tell me I didn’t know what I was doing. I was so sure of myself.
I felt completely empowered by my college education.
I would like to say that I remember the first time I met AnnaLee but I don’t. I kind of just remember her always coming in last minute on Fridays to pick up her check. She always looked a fright mess and smelled a bit. She was missing one tooth on the left side of her mouth.
One pay day, I was closing up. I had got into my car and was about to drive away when I remembered I forgot my cd case inside. Just then, AnnaLee tapped on my window. I motioned hold on, grabbed my purse, keys and pepper spray and stepped outside of the car. She asked me if she could pick up her check.
I was annoyed and said she would have to come back on Monday. We were already closed. She walked over and started bawling. I went in, got my CDs and went to get in my car but she was still sitting there crying. I walked over thinking I would give her a dose of reality and tell her how real life was like.
I asked why she didn’t come sooner to get her check. She began to explain how she was a grandmother who was raising her five grandchildren by herself. Their mother had died and their fathers were not around. Her husband had died shortly after her daughter.
After her husband’s death, her home was repossessed by the bank. She was able to get a small three bedroom home but was still trying to save money for everyone to have a bed. She said she slept on the floor and let the kids have the bed, couches.
I was getting the reality check.
I, with my privileged upbringing and my breeded education, was seeing what real life struggles looked like. I went inside and got her check, then locked back up. I gave AnnaLee a ride to the daycare where her grandchildren stayed until 6:30pm. I would have offered to take them but I hadn’t the room in my vehicle. AnnaLee told me how much she appreciated my kindness, I felt so much internal shame.
I had assumed she was a drunk. I had assumed she was lazy, irresponsible. I didn’t see her nor did I see others for the genuine people they were and the struggles they have endured and are pushing to overcome. It wasn’t until after meeting AnnaLee in that parking lot that I began to be a wonderful recruiter. My reality and the way I saw life was turned on its head. My job was now a mission to help all of the AnnaLees in the world one more step towards stability and security for their family.
Simply put, I owe my staffing career to AnnaLee.
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I know you have an awesome story of your own! Send it to me at news@staffingtalk.com
{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
That is a wonderful story!
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@IntheMajors – I’m glad you liked it! Hopefully it will encourage people to send me their own story. I know there are thousands of them out there just waiting to be told.
I have been in this industry for nearly 30 years….those stories are the heart and soul of our business…everyday we are grateful that we can be a part of peoples lives and they include us in theirs! We owe our staffing career to this solid group of good people!
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This was a very touching story actually had me crying. That gives everyone a lesson that we should not judge a person from their looks or the way they act. We never know what is the real story behind there looks or the way they act. Just like a homeless person. If you sit down and talk to a homeless person you will get the real story. And it becomes a touching story also. This was a wonderful story!!!
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What a wonderful story. If only we all stopped to realize moments in our life where we could help someone or see the world differently.
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Awesome article!
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Until you listen to plenty of sob stories and feel ultra sorry for these individuals and give them jobs that they don’t show up to. Then you are going to be the next one on the street without a job because your clients depend on the workers and will eventually go to a different agency—leaving you without a job. No More. It is reall hard to believe any thing now days.
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I have been in the staffing industry for 20+ yrs and I work with others who feel the same as Anonymous (above) which is an unfortunate “side effect” of working in this industry. I confess to having my jaded moments as well. It is quite natural. However, in my office, I am known as the “soft touch” and willingly listen to each and every heartbreaking story, most of which are very believable. I rely on my own common sense to make a decision which I feel is best for my clients and many times I take a chance on someone, and ask my clients to do the same. Have I been “burned” by this?? Absolutely! I have also had many many successes…and those are the ones I remember. I find staying focused on the highs of this business and throw away the lows…you remain human enough to enjoy the ultimate joy of being in the staffing business…you get to change peoples lives on a daily basis! Who can’t love that??
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Very cool comment Pam…thanks and congrats. I try to be that way too but fail.
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Thanks Gregg, although I am pretty sure, after reading your bio… failure is not a part of your vocabulary.
I enjoy reading your posts. I find them to be very realistic and truthful with interesting comments. I really liked the cartoon/post about “before the internet” It reminds me of my “dinosaur” days when the only tools I had (or needed) were my phone, a legal pad and my fingers for dialing!
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Sorry…forgot to use my name (above). I never want to be known as Anonymous!
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AnnaLee sounds like she needs a good direct-hire job with health and dental benefits. And possibly a union to represent her. I would feel awful being involved in an industry whose employees are forced to live paycheck-to-paycheck without job stability, vacation, and the ability to afford a car.
I was a college-educated temp during the Silicon Valley boom of the late ’90s and early 2000s. I know what it’s like to live paycheck-to-paycheck because almost all of the jobs at that time were temp, in spite of the booming economy. The lack of job security and benefits contributed to my filing bankruptcy. Boy, the temp industry sure did an effecient job in turning full-time, direct-hire jobs into temp ones! All of the temps I knew resented being caught in between the client/agency arrangement. We all had our horror stories to share. Several managers and direct hires I knew who wittnessed this arragement were disgusted with it. I can relate to AnnaLee. I know what desparation is like.
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When I went from being ‘direct-hire’ to being a temp in 1982 I more than doubled my income.
Lesson: Staffing companies make labor markets fluid and create jobs and better opportunities where there were none.
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That’s awesome that you were able to double your income! More power to you. I would love to see some straight sats for the following though:
- Employees who choose to be temps
- Employees who are temps but want direct-hire work
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A friend’s son who was temping this summer for $8/hr as a painter just started his own painting temp biz and is taking on his own $8/hr temps while boosting his own income past $40/hr. countless stories like this happen across this nation every day.
If I understood your prior discourse properly, Disgruntled, and please let me nkow if i got it wrong, you consider this entrepreneur’s activity unethical since he is now making money off of his own temps and that only through unionization should he legitimately increase his income.
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I have mixed feelings about your friend’s son’s success. I’m happy for his $40/hr, but would rather see his painters work through unions and make better wages and have better benefits. I admire him for starting his own business – expect I don’t admire the business he chose to start. I know if his painters converted to working for unions that they would get better pay and benefits – at the expense of your friend’s son’s job. Successful Temp did a great job of explaining the costs of being in the temp business, so I don’t envy him for those costs taking a cut in his pay. If he’s still clearing $40/hr with the costs, that’s phenominal. The nature of a painter’s job is temporary though, so there’s something to say about that. Friend’s son must have the connections that supply his temps with work.
My problem with the temping industry is when they convert full-time, direct-hire jobs into long-term temporary, or “permatemp”, positions for profit. This arrangement seems to previlent in the warehouse and the housekeeping/hotel industries, based on recent articles I’ve read. I will be happy to give you links to these articles if you’re interested.
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Hey disgruntled, why do you think you’re entitled to things like high wages and benefits and vacations? So it’s up to someone else to take the risk, get an idea, start a company, work 90 hour weeks for years, put their house up as collateral, sell their tails off, grow a company so some union can come in and tell her how much she’s going to pay her employees so you can have some kushy job you’re entitled to? Is that the reality you’re living in?
You want to know what real work is? Go start a company. Then you’re the boss! Go ahead, what’s stopping you?
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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Have you started a company? I gather you’re a temp though. Listen. When I work for someone direct hire, I get benefits. When I temp, I don’t. I know the huge percentage that staffing agencies make off of temps. I don’t feel entitled to a high wage, but a fair one, and to be eligible for the same benefits my coworkers get. I resent a huge portion of my salary going to the staffing industry, which is profit- and growth-oriented. The more temps jobs there are, the more money you make. A higher portion of temp jobs mean more disgruntled workers though. Did you see my other posts? They explain how I was a temp through a union making twice as much as my staffing agency co-workers. Yes, I paid dues, but they were only 2% of my salary. A manager at the company I was working at assured me that the company paid the same rate for me as the staffing agency employees.
I am curious: Are you really a temp? Do you have your own business?
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I started my own company and failed at the sales part. Or maybe my idea wasn’t unique enough. I know the work that it takes and have since had a newfound respect for people who have built a successful company.
As far as temping is concerned, it’s pretty simple. Everything is temporary. In this day in age of constant disruptions no one can guarantee future long-term profits. However, disrupting an industry is much easier now than it used to be. So it actually works out for entrepreneurs. Not so much for people who sit back and expect someone else to create a job for them.
My personal experience with temping is this. Every once in a while you walk into a staffing company that sucks. Just stop working with them. Find one that is good at what they do and stick to them like glue. Show them you’re willing to do a great job and they will reward you.
Another thing. Learn how to do something that is in high demand, that few people can do, and be willing to relocate. This will put YOU in high demand, not the “job” people are so desperately seeking. I guarantee that if you were really good at programming in iOS or even .NET/C# you would be able to get that high paying, vacation-taking, benefits-laden gig you want. The resources are out there to learn all of this for free.
If you don’t like the staffing industry, bypass it.
For me, temping works out great because my skills are in high demand and I never have any trouble getting placed after a project ends. I get a fair salary, I live below my means and save up. I like having a 2 month vacation between 6 month projects, I don’t even need to collect unemployment and sometimes I even turn down a job because I’m enjoying my time off so much.
Again it comes down to you and your skills. You are not a victim and you don’t need the unions to protect you. Take ownership of your situation and take control of it at the same time.
Staffing companies don’t make a ton of money like you say. They are paying higher Workers’ Compensation premiums and have way more Unemployment claims. They have a much greater payroll responsibility which requires more employees to run payroll. They conduct massive amounts of time consuming interviews with people who are barely employable at times. They also have to sell constantly, competing with cutthroat margins by larger competitors. To top it off they also have much greater software costs than standard businesses to keep track of it all.
I enjoy not having to look for a job. They find it for me.
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Thank you, Successful, for your civil and enlightening post. Obviously, we’ve had very different experiences with staffing agencies and unions. Both worked out for us. They both have their pros and cons. It’s been a pleasure to share my experience, and thank you for your taking the time to reply to my posts. I admire your gumption in starting a new business; and I appreciate your perspective.
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If clients did not have a reason for contracting staffing agenecies they would not exist. There is always a reson a industry prospers and with out client needs there would be no industry. Many of our staff use our industry as a stop gap method to keep themselves going during hard times and appriciate the fact that they support themselves and do not count on others supporting them. They eventually find their true calling and move on. I am proud of each of them that I am able to help do so.
Also many of our clients contract our services so they can be compasionate to their direct hires that are having a tough time and need time away. That employer can hire a staffing agency to fill that slot until their direct hire returns. Without staffing agencies an employer would often have to replace that direct hire if there was not a temporary option available to them.
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@Disgruntled… You’ve exposed yourself as someone uneducated about the realities of the staffing industry. It’s obvious by your comment “I know the huge percentage that staffing agencies make off of temps” that you haven’t dont your research and are simply uneducated as to the fact that the difference in the bill rate and your pay rate is NOT profit. Factor into that all of the employer payroll taxes (FICA, FUTA, SUTA, etc..), workers comp, benefits (yes, there are still those of us that offer them to temporary employees), service bonuses, holiday pay, plus the overhead that goes along with running our businesses and you’ll see that we operate on much smaller margins then you thought. One serious workers comp injury often has the ability to make an account unprofitable. Staffing companies don’t “create” temporary positions, the economy does. We allow companies to expand / retract in uncertain times to maintain their own profitability. We provide a means to keep people employed when companies wouldn’t otherwise have the confidence to bring extra help on board full time. Also, sorry to burst your bubble but unions are obsolete unless you happen to work in a coal mine. They were created to protect workers when there was nothing else in place to do so. With the advent of modern employment law, minimum wage, workers comp, and OSHA, the need for them has evaporated. They sap companies of productivity and profitablity. Need I point out the bankruptcy of a few Southern California cities that have been brought down by the pension / wage costs of their union contracts for employees being overpaid (at way higher pay scales then their private sector contempories) to do basic functions at the taxpayer’s expense? Stop being bitter at an industry you don’t understand and develop in demand skills that will enable you to be successful in your career.
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VERY VERY WELL SAID.
IntheMajors.. I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Thank you from another owner of a staffing agency
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I have also been in staffing over 20+ years. Because of the people we meet every day, we have an opportunity to change lives. You also get smarter each passing year as to who you can help and who you can’t. It all boils down to doing the right thing. And in our busy offices, with the constant interruptions, we sometimes forget celebrate the successes. There is never enough time. And of course, there is the fact that we get PAID to do this. And we can become jaded. However, if you do not have heart-you cannot survive in this business.
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“if you do not have heart-you cannot survive in this business”
Mary…i think that’s the smartest thing I’ve ever heard about staffing.
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