Never Look Again!

The clippings below give a clear picture of where the world is going:

The same dynamics that have bankrupted Medicare and Social Security plus the ever increasing cost of government mandates and record keeping is pushing employers in the direction of providing ever-more-limited benefits.  This is frequently, and increasingly, done through the use of temporary agencies.

Many companies already have more contract workers, hired through temporary agencies, than they have “permanent” employees.  Of course, anyone who’s been concious for the past decade knows that the time is long past where the term “permanent employee” was anything but a bad joke.

The use of contract employees has created a new word “permatemp”.

The classic permatemp situation results when a worker classified as “temporary” works alongside regular employees doing similar work for a long period. By claiming that the employee is only temporary, the worksite company avoids paying for benefits and employer taxes. Benefits and taxes, such as social security, typically are 33% of the employee’s pay. For example, if you made 30k per year as a permanent employee (aka with benefits), approximately 10k would be paid for your health insurance, retirement, employer payroll taxes, etc (in some states sales tax is even paid by the worksite, as the temporary employee’s “labor” is considered a sold good). Typically at least that 10k is paid to the temporary agency, who provides little to no benefits to their employee. The worksite company also tangentially benefits because it has no responsibility to the employee — permatemp employees can be fired or laid off at any time, as they have no career service protection or seniority. Temporary employees are often ineligible to apply for jobs open to regular employees. [see Wiipedia:  Permatemp ]

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