Temp Workers Are Just a Temporary Solution

“It Takes a Temp” (Feb. 22) and “Is the Bloom Off the Rose of Contract Workers?” (Careers, Feb. 24) reflect an unbelievable number of temps in the U.S. work force and risks--pro and con--to corporate managements who hire them.

The Times tells me that “12 million temps are employed in the U.S., making up nearly 10% of the nation’s work force,” although I learned from AFL-CIO President John Sweeny in his new book, “America Needs a Raise: The New Nomads,” that the percentage is much greater. Sweeny says, “Estimates of the total ‘contingent work force’ range from 30 million to 37 million people--temps, part-timers, independent contractors--about 25% of the entire work force.”

Sweeny adds, “Significantly, the largest private employer in the country is not IBM, General Motors or even McDonald’s, but the temporary agency Manpower Inc.!”

After all the discussion, I believe that it’s the people who are employed as temps who are getting the short end of the stick. Scott Adams’ cartoon in your Feb. 24 article hits the nail on the head when Dilbert says: “I just love hiring those temporary workers. No employee benefits, no union, just toss ‘em in the dumpster when you’re done with them. The dumpster seems a bit inappropriate. They’re way too big to flush!”

JACK L. RUGH

San Gabriel