Pay rate, location top reasons temps accept assignments: SIA

Pay rate is the most important criteria temporary workers use to decide whether to take an offered assignment, according to a report by Staffing Industry Analysts. However, other factors also matter.

“With the labor market as tight as it is right now, staffing firms will need to not just match candidate to assignment but sell the candidate on accepting the assignment,” said Jon Osborne, SIA’s VP strategic research and the author of the report. “The temp preferences identified here should be used to help craft that messaging.”

Temporary workers were asked, “When considering whether to take a newly offered assignment, what are your three most important criteria?” While 90% said pay rate was among their top three assignment criteria, more than half of respondents also cited “location of assignment” and “working conditions/company culture.”

Share of temporary workers citing selected options as a top three assignment criteria:

• Pay rate: 90%
• Location of assignment: 63%
• Working conditions/company culture: 54%
• Work/life balance (flexible hours, option to work from home): 43%
• Close match to your skills: 34%
• Training offered: 9%

Interest in the selected criteria varied somewhat by wage, age and occupation and are noted in detail in the report, “North America Temporary Worker Survey 2021: How do Temps Decide Whether to Accept an Assignment?,” which is available online to SIA corporate members.

The queries were part of SIA’s 2021 Temporary Worker Survey conducted in late 2020, which reflects the opinions of 2,223 temporary worker respondents from 21 staffing firms.

The original article can be found at: Staffing Industry Analysts