This is a view of the Cooper River Bridge, from our neighborhood - The East End.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Bridge from Columbus St.
This is a view of the Cooper River Bridge, from our neighborhood - The East End.
Temp Hires on the Rise
According to the American Staffing Association, the industry employed a daily average of about 2.5 million contract and temporary employees in the fourth quarter of 2008. That represented a drop of almost 20% from the fourth quarter of 2007. The staffing industry is hypercyclical; temp employees are the first to be let go and the first to be re-hired. For this reason, economists sometimes point to the staffing industry as a bellwether for the economy as a whole.
But with signs that the economy might be stirring, temp employment is on the rise. The Post and Courier recently published this piece on area white collar temporary employment agencies doing brisk business of late. (The NYTs put out a similar article a few months ago.) The workers are often new to temp work. They are individuals who have skills and experience but have been laid off from full-time jobs and are willing to take significant pay cuts because jobs are so scarce. The January unemployment figures indicate that at 12.6% South Carolina has the fourth highest unemployment rate in the nation. Those interviewed for the article attribute the rising demand for temporary office staff like receptionists to the fact that businesses are swinging back into gear but remain hesitant to (re)hire full-time employees.
The industry pros interviewed for the article insist that this isn’t a case where businesses are making permanent use of temp employees to keep them off the payroll and avoid paying for insurance and benefits. Whether that’s true or not for white collar temp positions, the practice is not uncommon among businesses using unskilled day laborers. We’ve seen instances where a day laborer has worked for nearly a year on the same jobsite, always as a temporary employee. He never received a raise, and, when the job finished, he was let go with little notice. This is what we mean when we say that day laborers have no job security.
But with signs that the economy might be stirring, temp employment is on the rise. The Post and Courier recently published this piece on area white collar temporary employment agencies doing brisk business of late. (The NYTs put out a similar article a few months ago.) The workers are often new to temp work. They are individuals who have skills and experience but have been laid off from full-time jobs and are willing to take significant pay cuts because jobs are so scarce. The January unemployment figures indicate that at 12.6% South Carolina has the fourth highest unemployment rate in the nation. Those interviewed for the article attribute the rising demand for temporary office staff like receptionists to the fact that businesses are swinging back into gear but remain hesitant to (re)hire full-time employees.
The industry pros interviewed for the article insist that this isn’t a case where businesses are making permanent use of temp employees to keep them off the payroll and avoid paying for insurance and benefits. Whether that’s true or not for white collar temp positions, the practice is not uncommon among businesses using unskilled day laborers. We’ve seen instances where a day laborer has worked for nearly a year on the same jobsite, always as a temporary employee. He never received a raise, and, when the job finished, he was let go with little notice. This is what we mean when we say that day laborers have no job security.
Monday, March 1, 2010
The Elevator Pitch
We just sent out 41 letters to local politicians, businesses, and philanthropists asking if they'd be willing to support In Every Story. In writing the letter, we imagined that we'd just stepped onto an elevator with our reader and only had a few floors to get across our message and why we needed him or her on board. Here it is. After you read it, leave us a comment to let us know how we did. We're going to send out more so you're feedback will be a huge help.
We’d like to tell you about In Every Story, an innovative social enterprise that helps homeless workers help themselves. In Every Story began when Charleston native and Furman graduate (’08) Derek Snook chose to move into the Star Gospel Mission, a transitional housing facility for formerly homeless men in downtown Charleston. Derek did this as an act of faith and in the hope of better understanding the perspective of the homeless.
Derek discovered that of the 3,000 members of this community who will go to bed tonight without a home, many already have jobs. They work as day laborers. Each morning, they rise before dawn and make their way to day labor agencies hoping to get the chance to support themselves. But low wages, agency fees, and severe job instability make it nearly impossible to become self-sufficient. No matter how hard they work, day labor does not break the cycle of homelessness.
From this conflict emerged In Every Story, a nonprofit temporary labor agency that demonstrates Christ-like initiative as it partners with the homeless and near-homeless on their paths towards self-sufficiency.
We offer consistent temporary employment, higher wages, savings programs, safety training, permanent employment services, and spiritual reinforcement. By investing into our employees as well as conducting extensive vetting and drug tests, we provide a quality of labor unmatched by for-profit day labor agencies.
Crisis Ministries spends $24,000 a year to house each of its homeless guests. By contrast, with $100,000 in start up funding, we can help twenty homeless workers attain self-sufficiency in our first year alone. And, because In Every Story will be fully self-sustaining, we will be able to serve countless workers in the years to come without any additional funding. It is too expensive not to invest in this endeavor.
Please contact Derek Snook and Peter DeMarco at (843) 327-8456 or ineverystory@gmail.com to discuss how you can partner with, support, and donate to this effort.
We’d like to tell you about In Every Story, an innovative social enterprise that helps homeless workers help themselves. In Every Story began when Charleston native and Furman graduate (’08) Derek Snook chose to move into the Star Gospel Mission, a transitional housing facility for formerly homeless men in downtown Charleston. Derek did this as an act of faith and in the hope of better understanding the perspective of the homeless.
Derek discovered that of the 3,000 members of this community who will go to bed tonight without a home, many already have jobs. They work as day laborers. Each morning, they rise before dawn and make their way to day labor agencies hoping to get the chance to support themselves. But low wages, agency fees, and severe job instability make it nearly impossible to become self-sufficient. No matter how hard they work, day labor does not break the cycle of homelessness.
From this conflict emerged In Every Story, a nonprofit temporary labor agency that demonstrates Christ-like initiative as it partners with the homeless and near-homeless on their paths towards self-sufficiency.
We offer consistent temporary employment, higher wages, savings programs, safety training, permanent employment services, and spiritual reinforcement. By investing into our employees as well as conducting extensive vetting and drug tests, we provide a quality of labor unmatched by for-profit day labor agencies.
Crisis Ministries spends $24,000 a year to house each of its homeless guests. By contrast, with $100,000 in start up funding, we can help twenty homeless workers attain self-sufficiency in our first year alone. And, because In Every Story will be fully self-sustaining, we will be able to serve countless workers in the years to come without any additional funding. It is too expensive not to invest in this endeavor.
Please contact Derek Snook and Peter DeMarco at (843) 327-8456 or ineverystory@gmail.com to discuss how you can partner with, support, and donate to this effort.
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