Author: Scott Schnierer

Across the board, hiring still remains substantial despite the Federal Reserve Bank’s efforts to soften a strong labor market that has placed upward pressure on wages and contributed towards the current inflation crisis. Temporary staffing firms or temp agencies that provide healthcare temps or traveling nurses are noticing the increase as well.

According to the BLS, the labor force participation rate in December edged up slightly to 62.3%, still 1% below its level in February 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic began. This measure was largely unchanged throughout 2022.

At the industry level, the largest gains were seen across leisure and hospitality, healthcare, construction, and social assistance.

Leisure and hospitality, one of the industries hardest hit by the pandemic, continued its strong recovery, with employers adding 67,000 jobs during December. An average 79,000 leisure and hospitality jobs were added or created per month across 2022, a percent of the 196,000 jobs per month gained in 2021.

Interestingly, the healthcare industry added jobs much more robustly throughout 2022 than in the year prior as the country continued recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021, the healthcare sector added about 9,000 jobs on average each month, compared to 49,000 each month in 2022, according to the BLS. The biggest gains were in Ambulatory healthcare (outpatient) services which accounted for approximately 30,000 of those new jobs. Hospitals and nursing and residential care facilities also saw gains, adding about 16,000 and 9,000 new jobs, respectively.

Meanwhile, medical practices or physician offices added about 10,000 new jobs in December, according to the BLS.

Temporary employment, where employers provide contractors or temps, accounts for almost 2% of total nonfarm employment. Across the temporary staffing or employment agency sector, those gains were realized a similar basis.

Effective November 1st, 2022, New York City is now requiring that employers display the pay rate or salary range on its job postings. Employers also need to:

a) Conduct an internal salary survey to determine an accurate compensation range

b) Analyze salary ranges to be offered to new hires

c) Conduct a pay equity audit on any differences in pay/salary

d) Ensure that any staffing firms or third party recruitment agencies are in compliance with the law.

Interestingly, Temporary Help Agencies or temp staffing agencies are not covered under this law. Temp agencies will continue to provide value to employees by conducting internal salary audits to ensure that they are paying competitive wages. Additionally, a reputable temp agency employing workers in New York City or surrounding New Jersey will want to be transparent with potential employees as part of its recruitment and retention strategy. The primary goal of a temp agency is to partner with its employee at the beginning of the recruitment lifecycle.

For more information on the New York City Employer Pay Disclosure law, visit the SHRM website.

When turning on the news on television, it’s difficult not to see stories that include the catch phrases “supply chain” or “inflation.” The truth is that prices have gone up drastically over the last 2 years. And unfortunately, wages or salaries have not gone up at the same level. Consequently, everything is getting more expensive but yearly salary increases are not keeping up.

One way to try to keep up with the salary increases is to partner with a temporary staffing employment agency that works in many states such as NJ, NY, TX, FL and others. Why not let the agency tell your salary requirements and story to a prospective employer. Temp staffing agencies have access to salary surveys and real-time market research. Employment agencies also have multiple direct relationships with Directors and Heads of Human Resources and Talent Acquisition at various companies and organizations.

In September 2022, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all items rose 8.2 percent for the previous 12 months , just a bit under the 8.3-percent increase for the period ending in August. The annual inflation rate remains near a 40-year high despite recent declines in gas and energy prices.

Additionally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) just released today that compensation costs for private industry workers (employees) increased 5.2 percent for the 12-month period ending in September 2022. Benefit costs also increased 5 percent over the year.

So what does this all mean? Simply put, it’s sure a lot more difficult to pay for items when prices are rising on average 8.2% and salaries are rising on average 5.2%. The math doesn’t quite work.

In this current low employment rate, working with a temporary staffing agency can help negotiate your salary requirements. That’s why they are called an agency. They act as an agent on your behalf. Additionally, there is no fee to the job seeker (or employee) for their service.

Now we know not all temporary staffing agencies in NJ and other states don’t have the best reputation when it comes to certain things, but the truth is that temp agencies really want to make a successful job placement that is in the best interests of the candidate. Employment agencies don’t look good when there is employee turnover. Agencies are evaluated based on placement activity and retention. Secondly, a happy placement means a happy employee.

Consider partnering with a temporary staffing agency when it comes to shopping for a new position. Let the employment agency earn it’s fee with regards to its value proposition to maintain parity between inflation vs. wages. Not only does a higher salary or pay rate benefit the job seeker, but it also benefits the temp agency since fees are based on the employee salary pay rate. Partnering is the right word.