Who pays the fee? Evidently the old debate is not as dead as you thought

I've got to admit that given the state of the world these days there is very little anymore that would shock me. 

GM going bankrupt?  Sure. Trillions to bail out banks?  Why not. NASA naming a treadmill on the International Space Station after Stephen Colbert? Of course.

But the results of one question on our latest research study among contingent workers and the general public just about caused me to fall out of my chair.  We asked respondents  'what cost, if any, do you think a typical temporary staffing agency would charge you for finding you a temporary job?' Of the general public (those people who have never worked as a temporary employee or an independent contractor) fully 50% thought that a temporary staffing firm would charge them some sort of fee!

Now last I checked staffing firms haven't been charging fees to place people in jobs for at least 20 to 30 years.  So how is it that people can be so confused about this? 

Sadly, it's not that they just aren't familiar with staffing firms, as about one third of those people who have actually worked for a staffing firm in the past few years also think that staffing firms charge to place them into temporary jobs.

I'd say that this is a good reminder of just how far we have to go in educating people about working as a temporary employee.  No doubt there are many people who this type of work would be a great fit for.  But it's going to be tough to get them into needed jobs if they still believe it will cost them a fee to get placed.