Boom Time for Personnel and Temp Services Franchises

A healthy economy and a continued demand for both long- and short-term employees is driving personnel agencies and temporary employment services-and they love the work. Staffing services is one of the fastest-growing industries in the country. In 2004, the staffing industry generated more than $63 billion in revenues, with temporary staffing accounting for approximately 90 percent and permanent placement contributing the remainder.

Temporary employment and staffing has become an integral part of corporate America as a way companies can increase scale while mitigating employment costs and employment-related risks. According to the American Staffing Association, staffing companies are an increasing source of employment because they offer flexibility and access to a more extensive channel of talented workers.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the staffing industry is expected to create more jobs than any other industry from 2000 to 2010. According to the BLS:

more than 90 percent of U.S. businesses use staffing services;

71 percent of employers cite labor force flexibility as the number-one reason for using temps;

79 percent of temporary employees work full-time, virtually the same percentage as the rest of the workforce; and

72 percent of temporary employees obtain permanent jobs while working for a staffing company.

Oklahoma City-based Express Personnel Services, Inc., provides temporary staffing, evaluation, and direct hire; contract, and executive recruiting and placement; and customized human resource services. In 2005, the company increased revenue by 22 percent, to $1.55 billion, and opened 63 new franchise locations, with new offices in Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. The goal for 2006 is to open 96 more locations and increase revenue to $1.86 billion.

Express Personnel Services, with 525 offices worldwide, has a client base that extends through four countries and employs 325,000 people annually. The most significant growth factor continues to be the world's increasing demand for workers. "Because companies are growing and expanding their services, there is a larger need for qualified and competent employees," says Robert A. Funk, co-founder and chairman of Express Personnel Services. "Because of this, businesses are using staffing companies to get the help they need to meet their increasing workforce needs."

Many other employment and staffing providers are in the market today, some already franchising and others just beginning to franchise. And, as the need for competent, capable help continues to rise, some of these systems are looking to carve out specific niches in the temporary staffing market.

Link Staffing Services, with more than 50 locations nationwide, has been providing staffing to businesses in the manufacturing, industrial, and retail sectors since 1980. Franchisees of this Houston-based brand provide craft and trade workers as well as semi-skilled and unskilled labor. The company says a proprietary, comprehensive screening process helps deliver high-quality personnel.

And if it's a party you need to staff, Gary and Mary Schanzer of Party Personnel Inc., can help you out. They founded their company in 1993 in Kansas City with one simple goal: to provide quality waitstaff for clients entertaining a large number of guests at special events and parties. Today, Party Personnel is a temporary staffing firm that specializes in providing skilled, uniformed, and reliable banquet servers and bartenders to hotels, country clubs, upscale caterers, businesses, and private homes.

Now, with 20 full-time and 80 flex-time employees who staff between 30 and 50 events per week, the Schanzers are taking their business from the nation's heartland to the rest of the country with the launching of Party Personnel Franchise Systems, LLC, headquartered in nearby Overland Park.

Interested in serving people, putting people to work, and solving staffing needs for others? A personnel or temp service just might be the franchise job for you.