Short-term Hiring Rises in Face of Double Digit Unemployment

Unemployment in Los Angeles County reached 11.4 percent in March, the highest recorded level in decades. Statewide, the number of jobless hit 11.2 percent. In March, the state lost 62,000 jobs although that was at a slower rate compared to the 114,000 jobs cut in February. Losses continued in manufacturing, construction, retail and primary education. For a third quarter in a row there were job increases in health care, higher education, and in March, the financial sector, said Jodi Chavez, a senior vice president with Ajilon, a professional staffing services firm with offices in Burbank and Woodland Hills. The adding of jobs in the financial sector show that TARP and federal stimulus money was being spent, Chavez said. However, those employees are more likely to be short-term hires. “What that says to me is that companies are still unsure and uneasy about adding full-time headcounts,” Chavez said. “So they are supplementing the peaks and valleys in their business with temporary workers.” In December and January, clients of the firm were saying they would hold off until the end of the first quarter before they looked to hire again, Chavez said. Now those same clients are indicating that hiring wouldn’t resume until the end of the second quarter, she added. The bright spot is that hiring of the temporary workers is going up and the message that sends to the job seeker is to go after those positions if they are not already doing so, Chavez said. “There are staffing firms that specialize in everything from light industrial and labor positions all the way up to executive level consulting,” Chavez added.