Just when I was going to cancel my Plant and soil magazine subscription, they published this article.
Shares of specialty staffing companies are sizzling, despite volatility
in market
From Correspondent Fred Katayama
November 25, 1997: 3:34 p.m. ET
Should temps unionize? - Dec. 2, 1996
Temping has its benefits - Nov. 1, 1996
Manpower Inc.
Romac International
Accountants Overload
More related sites...
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - It is the busiest time of year for temporary
agencies, and they've got their hands full with requests.
Especially for accountants.
"We gave bonuses last year of about $35,000 to people just for sending
people to us we could put to work," said Richard Lewis, president of
Accountants Overload.
In technical fields, demand for software programmers and system
engineers outstrips supply, so agencies like Manpower and Romac
International are re-training workers themselves.
"Our member firms are able to offer people training and offer them a
variety of different assignments so they get exposed to different kinds
of settings," said Richard Wahlquist, executive vice president of the
Association of Temporary Services.
Shares of industry giant Manpower have suffered because the strong
dollar has eroded its overseas profits.
Stocks of specialty staffing companies, on the other hand, are on the
upswing. They have posted returns of more than 38 percent so far this
year, outperforming the broad S&P index.
Demand for software programmers is particularly acute, as companies race
to fix the so-called "Year 2000" bug - a software glitch that causes
computers to mistake the last two zeros of 2000 for 1900.
As companies downsize, Smith Barney predicts the $43 billion temporary
help industry will nearly double to $75 billion by the year 2005.
"The current economic environment as we discussed is pretty much custom
tailored to top line growth and earnings growth in the staffing
industry. Low interest rates, low unemployment, and moderate economic
growth all support the industry," said Brian Kearns, an analyst for
Smith Barney.
Agencies like Manpower and Romac Int'l are re-training workers
themselves. |
