By Mary Jo Frank
Hiring more temporary employees through the U-M’s Temporary Staffing Services (TSS) could save the University lots of money.
Cynthia A. Kabza says supervisors who use TSS also gain highly skilled temporary workers—many of whom are familiar with U-M policies and procedures—to pinch hit during peak work periods or when regular employees are on leave. Kabza is manager of employment and staff planning at the Administrative Services Personnel Office (ASPO).
TSS, established in the early 1970s as a less costly alternative to external temporary employment agencies, has been growing steadily, recently adding a second employment representative to recruit, screen, interview, refer and place applicants. Kabza says hiring the new representative is in response to needs identified by units. “We didn’t have enough staff to provide all the assistance they needed.” ASPO provides additional support and backup to TSS staff.
At any one time, approximately 200 TSS-placed employees work at the U-M. Placements range from only a few days to an average of four to six weeks for clerical staff and up to three months for laborers, according to Roberta J. Young, TSS coordinator. Recently, TSS placed an accountant for six months. TSS also places executive secretaries, administrative assistants and, on occasion, computer technicians.
TSS advertises throughout Washtenaw and western Wayne countries for temporary employees. Many of the temps are graduate students or are spouses or significant others of U-M students or faculty.
“Some people prefer the flexibility of working on an occasional basis. They may not want to work summers. We have some excellent professional temporary employees,” Young notes.
Temporary employment is big business at the U-M. In 1990 the University paid more than $2.5 million to external temporary employment agencies. Of that, approximately 40 percent to 60 percent was for administrative overhead or fees charged by the agencies.
While external temporary employment agencies may charge hiring units up to 60 percent above the temporary employee’s hourly wage, TSS charges only a $38 monthly placement fee. The savings are impressive, Young says.
For example, a secretary with word processing skills working for $8 an hour would earn $1,280 for 160 hours of work plus the unit would pay the $38 placement fee. If the person were hired through an external temporary employment agency for $8 an hour, the unit would pay the agency $13.50 an hour, or $2,160 for the month—$842 more than if the person had been hired through TSS.
A general laborer earning $6 an hour for 160 hours would cost the unit $998, including the TSS placement fee. The unit would pay $1,376 if the general laborer were hired through an outside agency. The savings realized by hiring through TSS: $378 per month.
In addition to handling the placement and all paperwork involved in hiring a temporary employee, TSS also is a liaison between the hiring unit and the Payroll Office.
Currently, TSS’s turnaround time on filling a temporary assignment is one to three days. The goal is to reduce placement time to one day, says Sandra Newton, TSS’s newest employment representative.
Because TSS is not staffed like an outside agency, it helps if units plan ahead to fill positions that they know will be temporarily vacated, she adds.
TSS also helps units work with external temporary employment agencies when a unit needs someone immediately or requires skills that can’t be filled by TSS.
Young and Newton monitor temporary employment agency rates, policies and practices, and troubleshoot if a unit has a problem with an employment agency. Staff support in the office is provided by Charlene King.
TSS relies primarily on repeat business and word-of-mouth advertising within the University community, according to Kabza.
“We’re survival-based, not profit-based. Our focus has been to make sure we have the right person for the position. The focus has been on quality rather than volume. Now we’re working on both.”
