By Lynn McMillen
Of The Chronicle

In the Allentown area, 20 percent of the companies interviewed in a Manpower survey-- released late last year--planned to hire more workers in the first quarter of 2004, while three percent planned layoffs. If these numbers play out, it could mean more jobs for more people. Staffing agencies play an important role in filling these vacancies. Once a source of short-term, temporary jobs, hence the term "temping," working for a staffing agency today could lead to a full- time job.

Barton Associates, Inc. is a specialty staffing firm that places workers in engineering production management, accounting, information technology, human resources and other professional and administrative fields.

Barton, which has been in the placement field for 32 years, currently has a placement rate of about 80 percent.

"We deal with the same companies for both permanent and temporary jobs," says Singerman. "We get them people they can hire."

Singerman says that while the year 2002 and the first half of 2003 were slow for both temporary and permanent placements, he's seen both pick up at the end of 2003 and beginning of 2004.

The field that is still the slowest, according to Singerman, is information technology.

"Y2K caused people to clean up and modernize, and when bad times came, they had things that worked, and enough IT people," he said. "Now employers are saying 'Let's stop limping along and get something that does everything we need,' so we're starting to see an upturn even there."

Singerman also noted that finding quality employees has become harder. "During bad times, people who are working tend not to look, and they're the most qualified workers. We don't find jobs for people, we find people for jobs."

Kevin Flemming of Integrity Personnel, Inc. says that the company has evolved in the 17 years since it was founded by his mother, Pat Flemming.

"Back then," said Flemming, "temporary employment agencies and head hunters--professional placement agencies--never mixed." As the first 80s recession passed, however, according to Flemming, most companies using temps were larger companies. In the early 90s, smaller companies began using temps as a way to get a "look" at an employee before hiring. "

By 1994," said Flemming, "we had a lot of temps being offered positions."

According to Flemming, in the 90s, companies began to realize they had to do more to fill a job than just run a newspaper ad.

"Employees are picky, too. [Companies] realized that people temp for a reason--not all temps are looking for permanent work."

Like the other agencies, Integrity has experienced a resurgence in business since the middle of 2003.

During the recession, said Flemming, companies cut back and temps are one of the first cuts.

"Now we're seeing backfill," he said. "People are filling existing vacancies, and starting to use temps again in traditional ways."

Curt Evans, supervisor at Careerlink in Bethlehem, said that while Careerlink occasionally will place someone in a temporary position, their main goal is to find permanent work for their clients. Careerlink is the current incarnation of what used to be referred to as the "unemployment office," or the Bureau of Employment Security.

"We'll work with any legitimate employer who calls us," said Evans, though he notes, no subcontracting. "People who will be paid on a 1099 cannot be placed. But anyone with an employer/employee relationship--we'll take any kind of job and try to fill it."

A more traditional agency is HTSS Inc. Howells Staffing. According to Lori Snyder, marketing director, Howells has been in business for a little over ten years. Howells places employees in healthcare, clerical, light industrial and some professional positions.

"The beginning of last year was still very slow," said Snyder, "but the beginning of summer it began changing. Now we're pretty busy."

Snyder said that healthcare placements were strong even during the recession. Clerical positions have increased since mid-summer 2003, as have most other fields. Administrative assistants and clerical or secretarial skills are still sought after, especially computer skills including Word, Excel and, to a lesser extent, Access, as well as bookkeeping and some web support skills, according to Snyder. They also place bilingual workers in some fields.

"If the person seems like someone with skills we know we'll keep using, we'll do an advanced interview," said Snyder. "We can also do specialized testing. We can create a custom test for just about anything."

Most Howells placements are temp. to perm., according to Snyder, and the pay scale begins at $7 per hour to about $10 per hour or more for more specialized skills.

"The job market is still very tight and competitive," said Snyder. "But we're busier than we were this time last year.

"Still," said Snyder, "a lot of people have negative stereotypes about the staffing industry--some people still think you have to pay for our services."

One person who knows better is Evelyn Jackson, who was placed at Graphic Management Associates by Howells.

"I got hired immediately," said Jackson. "I didn't even need a resume. I told Pat the income level I wanted, and was sent right to GMA."

Jackson currently works four 12-hour shifts a week as a "lead" on a line doing newspaper inserts.

"I like the job," said Jackson, "And the people are the nicest people I've ever worked with. Howells definitely treated me well."

Though Jackson loves her job at GMA, she's not sure if she wants to accept a full-time position there or continue temping through Howells.

"Pat and Christie treat me really good, but I like the people at GMA, too," she said.

Manpower is a national staffing company, with 4000 offices in 63 countries, employing around two million people annually worldwide, according to Donna Marie Benner, a branch manager for Manpower, Lehigh Valley. Besides the traditional temp. and temp. to perm. placements, Manpower also has a professional branch.

Locally, Manpower places office, administrative, light industrial, customer service and human resource workers, and their professional division locates engineers, scientists, IT and other professionals.

"We've gone through a tremendous transition over the last couple of years," said Benner. "In the early 90s to about 1998, everyone was using temporary help. Then, after 9/11, the economy changed. A lot of companies are very cautious now. The recession started to improve in the second half of 2003...but the biggest thing I see is a high unemployment rate in the Lehigh Valley."

A lot of the unemployed are higher level people, according to Benner.

"There was a lot of consolidation during the recession, eliminating middle management. We don't have many professional jobs for those people."

While Benner said that they do occasionally get some nice administrative assistant positions which can start around $25,000 a year and up, "these people were making $30,000 to $70,000, and we don't have jobs for them."

"Compared to what we had in the 90s, the positions we have now are more skilled. Our entry-level definitely has to have a skill set. You can't come in off the street and have no experience and go to one of our jobs.

Back in the 90s you could--a company would train you. Now they're looking for machinists, welders, production line workers and warehouse workers." Katie Holva of Salisbury Township started out as a temp. She is now a full-time placement specialist at Manpower. She started February 2002, and worked a number of assignments.

"Then they asked me to come in the office for a while, doing filing and other jobs when they were short-staffed," said Holva. In September, she was hired full-time as staffing specialist.

"Now," says Holva, "I conduct interviews, go out to customer sites and review what a temp would be doing. I handle invoices for customers, answer the phones and screen applicants." Holva loves her work at Manpower. "I never know what to expect. Everyday I come in and it's something different. I like it."

Before being hired, Holva had temped as a packer at a warehouse, a medical office filing clerk, a customer service representative--she'd even done a one-day assignment helping out at a little carnival at Camp Olympia on Cedar Crest Boulevard.