Economic Crisis-Manpower Help

Tom Hartford

I have a few pw jobs going on, and this economic crisis has put everyone on edge. Several guys quit this week and I need people.

I currently use a temp company, who shall remain nameless, and they are charging me an insane amount of $$$. Anyone know of some cheap temp companies out there who are reliable??? I tried a few different job boards with no luck.

Tom

Cdat

You use a contract agency? The root of all evil? Don't expect help from me. Never trust a man who uses a contract agency to do his work. Why not hire illegals? It'll get you the same quality of work.

joasis

In Oklahoma, you cannot use "day help" to do anything, if you are a licensed trade, at least, in the inspectors point of view. They have to have an apprentice card at least to even pull wire.

My son uses a company called of all things, Temporary Personnel, to get a laborer or two when he is doing insulation jobs, and they clip him about $17 an hour and pay the worker $8. But, it is cheaper then getting an EIN and hiring actual employees......and with things getting tight, it is the way to go. Lots of concrete guys are doing this now......but it is a real drag, watching a drunk or a kid who has never done it even try to rake mud....

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TxElectrician

I keep a good business/friendship relationship with a few other Electrical Contractors in town. It allows us to borrow help if needed on a project or keep our crew working if we are slow. We know what caliber of electrician or apprentice we will be getting and our employees work well together and seem to appreciate the fact that it lessens the chances of a lay off.

Kevin Phillips

I have to agree with the previous post... these agencies are like hiring illegals and I've used many of them... typically for my bigger jobs... tradesmen... clp... aerotek... the list goes on and on. They are all about the same, and their prices go from medium to expensive. We call em 'rent-a-drunk' temps.

If you're looking for cheap though, there is an outfit called Zimmermann Staffing... sometimes they can take awhile to find people, but what they've sent haven't been all that bad.

As a rule of thumb, avoid temporary labor at all costs. Better front end planning will help avoid those situations.