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Sanjiv Shankaran

CHENNAI, May 14

OPPORTUNITIES for white-collar job seekers with basic qualifications have increased significantly on the heels of a sharp growth in service sector jobs and the advent of sophisticated recruitment companies.

Select recruitment firms such as Ma Foi Management Consultants take job seekers on their rolls and subsequently, place them temporarily with other companies. Generally, the educational qualification of a significant number of people placed on temporary basis is rudimentary: an under-graduate degree. Salaries and other benefits for temporary staff are handled directly by recruitment companies, said industry sources.

Mr Sudhakar Balakrishnan, Chief Operating Officer, Peopleone Consulting, identified customer service, sales, accountancy and administrative functions and front office functions in companies as areas where recruiting firms carry out temporary placements. The rapid growth in consumer product companies, retailing and information technology-enabled services have led to an explosion of opportunities, said industry sources.

In the case of Ma Foi, sales support is the function that has the largest number of temporary placements. According to Mr E. Balaji, General Manager, Staffing Solutions, launch of new product lines or expansion into a new geographical area generate demand for temporary employees.

Recruitment industry sources identified companies' desire to mitigate a downturn as the key reason to take recourse to temporary staff. For example, recourse to temporary employees help companies mitigate initial risk associated with a product launch, explained Mr Balaji. In the event, the new venture does not produce the desired result; an exit is easier for a company, he added.

A recruitment firm's capability to handle the complications associated with disbursing salaries regularly, and the ability to inspire confidence among clients were factors identified as critical to the business potential of temporary placements to the recruiting industry. Mr Balakrishnan suggested that a sense of belonging among temporary staff was also critical to success. "A human resources firm should be committed, and a temp should not be hanging," he said.

For recruitment companies that have developed the sophistication, temporary placement business has fuelled growth. For instance, Ma Foi's onsite resourcing business (job applicants are registered as Ma Foi employees, but work for its clients in the industry and are paid by them) grew by about 215 per cent in 2002-03 to stand at Rs 36.42 crore as against 111 per cent growth in gross revenue to Rs 48.66 crore for the same period.

Despite the description, temporary work seems to have an air of permanence about it. "Temps do not go out of employment; we give them temporary jobs on a permanent basis," said Mr Balakrishnan. Once a contract is over, temporary staffers are usually quickly placed elsewhere, Mr Balaji said. "Individuals are getting comfortable to work in a contractual mode," he said.

Temporary workers, who excel in an assignment, are at times absorbed as permanent staff members in the company where they are seconded, said Mr Balaji. He identified temporary staffers' tendency to "soak in" aspects from different work cultures as a factor that increased their value in the job market.

Mr Balakrishnan feels opportunities for temporary staffers are likely to grow as traditional manufacturing companies too have begun to absorb them. Temporary staffing "is here to stay", he concluded.

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