Temporary Help Earn 30% Less Than Average

Workers provided by temporary help companies are paid about 30% below the national average and only one-fourth get medical benefits enjoyed by virtually all full-time employees, the government said Tuesday.

In its first-ever nationwide survey of the burgeoning temporary help industry, the Labor Department found the average wage paid last September to temporary workers by firms who hire out their services was $6.42 an hour.

The average hourly wage for all non-supervisory workers in private industry nationwide for the same month was $9.06 an hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

While still less than 1% of the U.S. work force, the so-called “temps”--who are supervised by client firms but are on the payroll of temporary help companies--are one of the fastest-growing classes of workers in the country.

In 1987, they grew by 13% to just slightly over 1 million by the end of the year.

But it is in the area of benefits--which now account for about 40% of some employers’ labor costs, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce--where the savings become evident in using temporary workers.