September 15, 1999 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Temps work same hours as other services workers

Temporary help supply workers averaged about the same weekly hours as all other workers in the services industry in 1998. In contrast, in the early 1980s, temps worked about five-and-a-half fewer hours per week than the average services worker.

[Chart data—TXT]

Back in 1982, the average workweek in the help supply services industry was only 27.1 hours and the services industry average was 32.6 hours. Sixteen years later, help supply services employees averaged 32.4 hours per week, while the entire services industry again averaged 32.6 hours.

However, the duration of temporary workers’ assignments is very short, compared with traditional employment. A 1995 survey showed that 42 percent of temps had been at their current assignment less than 3 months, 72 percent less than 9 months, and only 16 percent had spent more than a year in their current assignment.

These data on average weekly hours are a product of the BLS Current Employment Statistics program. The average weekly hours figures are for nonsupervisory workers. Find out more in Report on the American Workforce 1999 (PDF 1,037K).