The Joys of Temporary Employment
A somewhat humorous look at my year as a temp worker.
It’s no real surprise, given the current economic climate, that employers and employees alike are opting to go the temporary worker route. Businesses, looking for ways to cut costs, and working stiffs, just looking to earn a living, are being forced to re-evaluate and try something a little different.
My temp situation had nothing to do with the crashing economy, rather, my impending divorce drove me from the couch, and my 10 year stint as a stay-at-home dad, and back out into the workplace. Prospective employers balked at the 10 year gap in my resume, spouting the same old line over and over, “We’d love to hire you, but I’m afraid your lack of recent work experience makes you too unreliable.”
I was on the brink of giving up entirely, and making plans to live in a discarded refrigerator box under a freeway overpass, when I spied a sign blaring, “START WORK TODAY.” The glorious sign was pasted on a window of a somewhat non-descript looking storefront, wedged between a nail salon and a discount taco eatery. Marching confidently in the front door, I pulled the sign out of the window and declared my willingness to work. It was explained to me, in words that a child could understand, that I was in a temp agency and would have to fill out a mountain of paperwork (I swear I can still hear trees crying) before being considered.
True to their word, on completion of said paperwork, I was sent off to an interview with a large company that I had previously been turned down by…..my confidence was not high. A 30 second interview and the job was mine, amazing how a $4 per hour pay difference can sway a prospective hiring company.
Almost a year has passed since that day, a year of hard work, not a single day missed, and I now stand in the presence of The Holy Grail…..permanent employment, and that $4 per hour raise, but it has been a rough go of it.
Being a temp means having no benefits, no paid vacation time or sick days. It means busting your hump while the guy you work with, a permanent hire, sneaks out for his fifth smoke break of the day. It means watching as others marvel at the size of their paychecks, complete with company profit sharing, while you sit with a calculator, figuring out which bills can and cannot be paid this week. It’s all the equivalent of watching the rich folks eat steak while you dine at that discount taco joint.
At the end of the day though, I can’t really complain. I have my own place now, a new, very unflashy, car and have not missed a single bill payment in that time. Sure I am exhausted and have developed rickets from lack of proper nourishment, but I can be proud in the fact that I have worked hard and it will now pay off in the form of a permanent spot, not too shabby given the current economic climate. Funny how it all comes full circle.
