As job creation in the professional arena continues to drive the economic recovery, the Business Professional and Support Staff sector is becoming one of the hottest areas for contract staffing.  

According to Top Echelon Contracting's (TEC) 2012 statistics, Business Professional and Support Staff contractors accounted for 25% of our contract placements, compared with 16% in 2011. The only sector to bring in more contractors last year was Healthcare.

This is no…

When it comes to contract staffing, the mechanics of getting a job order and finding a candidate are the same as making direct placements.  What is different about contract staffing is that you must have a back-office to handle the legal, financial, and administrative issues. You have two options for a back-office: Outsourcing it or doing it in-house. Let's examine the differences between the two methods.…

Demand for temporary/contract workers in the professional sector is expected to exceed previous records in 2012 and 2013, according to Staffing Industry Analysts' U.S. Staffing Industry Forecast.

Specifically, the IT Staffing and Engineering/Design industry…

The increased use of contractors over the past few years is more than just a knee-jerk reaction to the recession, according to a recent survey by Randstad.

The Randstad Workforce360 Study found that companies are beginning to view blended workforces - those…

What if, as some experts predict, half of American workers were engaged on a contingent basis? How would the needs of our country, cities, and states change if a significant amount of people worked from home or outside the traditional 9-5 schedule?  

Those are some of the questions Thomas Fisher, Dean of the College of Design at the University of Minnesota, tackles in his article…

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act), which provides funding to healthcare providers for the adoption and “meaningful use” of EHRs, has generated a huge demand for health IT professionals. This demand has created a new niche recruiters who have the ability to place profesisonals with the unique skills set needed to fill these positions.

One recruiter who is focusing his efforts on this niche is …

In the 19th century, it was the Industrial Revolution.  In the 1950's, it was the shift from blue collar to white collar work. And some are predicting that we are now at the beginning of another workforce revolution: a shift from permanent employment to contingent work.

In his book Labor Rising, The Past and Future of Working People in…

Contract staffing revenue increased by 14% to $117.2 million in 2011, which is higher than experts had expected, according to a Staffing Industry Analysts forecast.

Part of the reason for this higher-than-expected increase is the government's crackdown on…

Ever wonder what is meant by the term "contingent worker?"  If so, a recent blog post by Staffing Industry Analysts does a good job of defining it.

According to the blog post, contingent worker is a term used to refer collectively to the different types of individuals in…

Most people in recruitment expect that when the economy recovers from a recession, there will be a spike in the use of contractors.  But is contract staffing's current growth just a knee-jerk reaction to the recession, or is it something more?

Well, a recent Washington Post article suggests that it could actually…

Contract staffing was bright spot for the recruiting industry once again in 2011.  As the economy tried to forge ahead, it appeared that many companies shifted their traditional direct-hire placements to contract placements.  

As a result, Top Echelon Contracting experienced a 22% increase last year in the number of commercial contractors placed on long-term contract assignments in the technical, professional, and healthcare arenas.   This represents 17 years of growth…

(This series focuses on the most common reasons we've heard for why recruiters don't want to offer contract staffing.  These reasons are based on common misconceptions about contract staffing and prevent recruiters from reaping the benefits of offering contractors to their clients.)

Reason #5: Offering contract staffing would distract me from my direct business

Contrary to popular belief, there is no reason that a…

(This series focuses on the most common reasons we've heard for why recruiters don't want to offer contract staffing.  These reasons are based on common misconceptions about contract staffing and prevent recruiters from reaping the benefits of offering contractors to their clients.)

Reason #3: I don't want to learn a new process

One of the biggest misconceptions about contracting is that you have to learn a whole new…

(This series focuses on the most common reasons we've heard for why recruiters don't want to offer contract staffing.  These reasons are based on common misconceptions about contract staffing and prevent recruiters from reaping the benefits of offering contractors to their clients.)

Reason #1: My clients don't have a need for contractors

Have you specifically asked your clients if they have a need…

Any time is a good time to offer contract staffing services to your clients. But the recruiters we work say there are certain times when you should take extra care to mention that you are able to handle contract job orders:

1. When you get a new client  - It's a good idea to let new clients know about ALL the services you provide, including contract staffing.

2. When a client has a position that is difficult to…

It's a new year, and the usual predictions abound about what will be hot in 2012.  Based on what we've been reading and hearing, here are the recruiting trends we think recruiters should keep an eye on:

1. Social Media Recruiting Wars - The race is on to see which social network, if any, will unseat LinkedIn as the recruiter's social network of choice.  When it was released last year, a lot of people had their money on Google+ due to it's ability to…

What is your retirement plan? If you own your own recruiting firm, you don't have an employer contributing to a pension plan or 401(k), so all you have is Social Security, your own retirement savings, and your business.

But if you are strictly a direct-hire firm, you may find that your business is not all that sellable when it comes time to retire. After all, direct-hire firms do not have a steady stream of revenueto attract buyers.  At best, you may have a client…

In a typical contract staffing situation, a company utilizes the services of a worker for a specific amount of time and outsources the employment of that worker to a third party. That third party is often referred to as the Employer of Record and serves as the W-2 employer for that worker.  As the Employer of Record, the third party takes on the legal liability and the responsibility for the following employment…

There's a lot of good news about contract staffing as 2011 comes to a close.

Citing data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Staffing Industry Analysts has reported that the number of contract/temporary workers increased by 22,300 in November, bringing the total of…

Like they often do with unemployed candidates, employers tend to automatically eliminate any candidates deemed to be overqualified. Employers assume that overqualified candidates will not be satisfied and, as a result, will not stick around long.  

But according to a recent Business News…