Worker Shortage? Not in Employment Industry

Staffing Firms Stock Up: The business of finding talent is big business indeed. According to the American Staffing Association, a trade group in Alexandria, Virginia, the U.S. staffing industry set a record by employing 3 million people during the second quarter of 2007. That includes about 3,000 more people than were employed during the second quarter of 2006. The provision of temporary help accounted for $18.5 billion, a gain of 2.3 percent from 2006 and nearly 6 percent higher than the first quarter of 2007. Even so, sales have been declining since double-digit increases were posted three years ago. For 2007, sales growth was lower than the 3.4 percent forecast by the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis.