In a free-market economy like ours, staffing agencies perform the invaluable function of matching job seekers with employee seekers. Given the staffing software and other tools at their disposal, staffing agencies save both ends of the employment spectrum lots of time and money. That’s why in good and bad economic times, there never seems to be a shortage of people or companies that use staffing agencies.

An article I recently read stressed another important function of staffing agencies: moving the country along the path of economic recovery.

Imagine, for a moment, the recent downturn and slow recovery without staffing agencies.

According to the American Staffing Association (ASA), U.S. staffing companies employed an average of 2.6 million temporary and contract workers per day from July through September in 2010. How many of those 2.6 million would have found those jobs on their own? How many employers would have found the right temporary employee without the help of a staffing agency?

Let’s say that 50% of those 2.6 million would have found the same job without a staffing agency, even though the real number is probably much lower. And let’s say that another 300,000 would have found a different job. That leaves 1 million more people without work, which translates into 1 million more people needing unemployment and other social services which government has to pay for and 1 million fewer people able to contribute to an economy.

Just as important, there are 1 million jobs that didn’t get filled, making the businesses that created those jobs less productive, less likely to hire more workers, and more likely to struggle financially and lay off workers.

Life without staffing agencies, then, means higher unemployment, fewer opportunities for individuals and businesses to grow, and a larger drain on government coffers – in other words, a slower economic recovery. And that’s nothing compared to the huge psychological burden of widespread joblessness on individuals and a country.

In normal economic times, staffing agencies connect people with jobs by the millions. In times of recession and recovery, the numbers go up somewhat, but one might say that the value of each job is much greater – and so is the value of staffing agencies.

So a big THANK YOU to all the hard-working folks at staffing agencies. Your work is crucial to the individuals and businesses you serve and the nation as a whole.

And one more thing: you are probably going to be busy for some time to come, so make sure your staffing software is up-to-date!

Visit our Home Page or contact us for more information about staffing software and other staffing resources.