American Staffing Association News

Job seekers can learn who is hiring, who might be, and when that might happen by studying multiple information sources, including what one staffing company calls "the job whisperer."

The staffing industry is a great resource for job seekers looking for assistance.

One staffing executive says a new educational credential, the National Work Readiness Credential, was "a godsend after years of being plagued by job candidates who were immature and unreliable."

A Westtown staffing firm owner was sentenced in federal court Friday to 51 months in prison for mail and wire fraud.

The unemployment rate in the Washington region soared to 6.9 percent in January, according to government data released Friday. It is the area's highest level in 20 years of record-keeping. But discouraged workers are also finding opportunities, according to one staffing executive, who said the region started "to see a pivotal turn in temp hiring in January."

Two former owners of a staffing firm in Stoughton were charged today with paying more than $24 million dollars in unreported cash to employees of their temporary staffing firm as part of a conspiracy to avoid paying more than $7 million dollars in taxes, and hundreds of thousands dollars in workers' compensation insurance premiums.

The accounting industry, like the law and other professional services, took some serious blows during the recession, but now jobs, in the form of both temporary-to-hire and permanent arrangements, have begun to pick up.

There are signs that the job outlook, gloomy for so long, is about to improve—one sign is increased temporary employment.

A report by a legal staffing firm revealed that 26% of lawyers plan to hire permanent staff over the next three months, 41% believe it's difficult to find skilled legal professionals, and 80% are confident that their firms will grow during the second quarter.

Utah's unemployment rate jumped to 7.1% last month, its highest level since February 1984. One positive, however, is the jobs growth contributed by the local temporary help industry.

A multimillion-dollar jobs bill signed into law by President Barack Obama aims to encourage hiring. One staffing professional said that while many employers say they want to hire, they're having difficulty spending money to hire right now.

The Japanese government adopted legislation to ban in principle temporary workers in manufacturing jobs and registered workers in temporary employment to help stabilize employment.

President Obama signed the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act into law, taking aim at the nation's persistent 10% unemployment rate, which is widely seen as one of the biggest obstacles to a sustained economic recovery. One analyst suggests the incentives offered in the new bill could cause companies to consider hiring a permanent worker rather than a temporary worker.

Temporary staffing firms are showing signs that the unemployment tide may be turning. Companies are starting to hire more temporary workers—an indication that permanent hires may soon pick up as well.

Temporary help services are adding jobs despite the down economy. ASA provides a contact list of staffing firms on its Web site.

Companies have opted to hire more temporary workers recently than permanent employees, recent research shows.

The economic rebound has been missing one key ingredient so far: jobs growth. But that may be about to change, according to one employment expert, who cites growth in temporary employment as a positive sign for the future.

Employers seeing signs of recovery are still not convinced it will last, so they are turning to temporary employees to fill personnel needs.

Blog: A lawyer who was fired from his job with a temporary legal staffing company has filed a defamation suit, alleging he was let go after the firm told his employer it suspected him of stealing documents.

Taking a temporary job may lead to something more permanent.