When Alisa Hoover was laid off from a winery job two years ago, she handed her resume to Nelson Staffing in hopes of finding a new role. But the visit didn't yield any opportunities, so she eventually found a less-than-thrilling accounting position at a Healdsburg bakery.
Then, a few weeks ago, Hoover walked back in to Nelson seeking a change, and things moved a lot more quickly.
"They placed me within a week," said Hoover, 40, of Santa Rosa, who got a job as a temporary royalty specialist handling contracts at O'Reilly Media. "I was very surprised."
Hoover had no idea that in this economy, she could find a new job so quickly.
National job growth has stumbled, with recent unemployment numbers released Friday disappointing economists. Employers nationwide created 69,000 jobs in May, the fewest in a year, and the unemployment rate inched up from 8.1 percent in April to 8.2 percent in May.
Staffing for temporary and contract employment in May was up 7 percent over the same period last year, according to the American Staffing Association. And Sonoma County unemployment fell to 8.6 percent in April, its lowest mark in more than three years, fueled by job growth in the private sector.
Hoover is one of a growing number of people landing temporary jobs as companies, which reduced staff during the recession, are finding there's too much work for their lean staffs. A boost in hiring of temporary workers is often a leading indicator of a recovering economy, analysts say.
"It's usually the first sign," said Ben Stone, executive director at the Sonoma County Economic Development Board. "It's a first step back. It's a stepping stone toward hiring a permanent person."
More jobs, whether temporary or permanent, help newly employed workers spend more money, improving the overall health of the economy. But those temporary positions aren't being converted to permanent jobs at the pace economists would hope, said Robert Eyler, who heads the Center for Regional Economic Analysis at Sonoma State University. And with lingering uncertainty in the economy, employers are reluctant to commit to permanent hires.
"The longer it lingers, the less it looks like the companies are willing to take on benefits packages, training programs," Eyler said. "They want the ability to walk away from that worker if they need to, and thus keep them in the temporary status."
At Nelson Staffing, annual revenues are projected to grow about 15 percent this year, and 95 percent of the company's revenues are derived from temporary jobs, said Craig Nelson, chief executive officer of the Sonoma company. That growth, which followed strong years for the company in 2010 and 2011, led Nelson to expand its Santa Rosa office, a project that is under way.
But placement at permanent jobs is 15 to 20 percent below levels the company enjoyed in 2007, Nelson said.
"A lot of our customers have gotten to the point where they have to have help, but they're not ready to commit to full-time help," Nelson said.
One encouraging sign is that retailers like Ross and Sears are once again hiring locally for the summer, said Kathy Young, manager at Sonoma County Job Link.
"It used to be that we had quite an increase during the summer, but that hasn't happened during the recession," Young said. "It's not as good as it was before, but you still see a slight increase."
Companies in the wine industry, professional services, accounting and finance are adding temporary workers to their rolls, Nelson said. Tourism and hospitality companies also are adding temps as summer vacationers arrive, Stone said.
Slower to return are clerical jobs, said David Ohman, branch manager at Manpower, a staffing firm that places candidates in both temporary and permanent jobs. Before the recession, about half of Manpower's jobs were clerical in nature, while the rest were industrial roles in manufacturing or production. Now, most of the jobs coming through its local office are industrial, he said.
Budget cuts in the public sector are contributing to the decline of openings for receptionists. And private sector employees are being asked to do more with less, and to handle their own correspondence and emails, Ohman said.
"Some companies are putting rotating shifts of their regular employees to cover the desk, cover the phones," Ohman said. "When you walk to the office, you don't see a receptionist. You see someone walking up from their cubicle and saying, &‘Can I help you?'"
Uncertainty over the future of health care reform is contributing to the reluctance of some of Nelson's clients to hire permanent workers, because of a fear that health care will become a huge expense for companies, Nelson said.
While economists are encouraged by the increase in contract jobs, those positions aren't necessarily going to the people who need it most: the long-term unemployed. Many opportunities are going to those who already have jobs.
"The candidate pool continues to grow, which means there are still a lot of people out there looking for work," Ohman said.
Sonoma County Job Link still has a steady stream of candidates seeking employment, but fortunately there has been an increase in the number of available jobs, Young said.
Temporary jobs generally don't have the security or benefits tied to permanent jobs. But they do provide a a way to stay current, and may lead to a permanent job offer, Stone said.
"For many people, having half a loaf is better than none," Stone said. "It may not be as good as the last job you had if it was permanent, with benefits, but it's a way back."
For Brian Dombrowski, who was recently hired as a temporary water specialist with the city of Santa Rosa, the new role offers a safer environment than his previous career as a manager in security, a line of work that had him frequenting night clubs and medical marijuana dispensaries.
When he learned his fiancee was expecting a baby, Dombrowski decided it was time for a change. He sought help at Nelson Staffing, and within three weeks he had started a new gig.
"It's a temporary job, but it gets my foot in the door to get opportunities with the city," said Dombrowski, 39, of Santa Rosa. "I'm getting married, we are having a baby soon, so my life is completely changing. So I really wanted to walk away from the security field."
Staffing agencies will likely see even more applicants in the coming weeks, as benefit checks for the long-term unemployed come to an end.
For many temporary workers, their checks will likely end too. Dombrowski, the expecting father, was told his new position would last one to three months, but he is optimistic the opportunity will turn into a permanent job.
"All I can do is hope," Dombrowski said.
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