CWS 3.0: November 19, 2014

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I quit! Are you losing temps early?

When it comes to quality and efficiency, one way for buyers to measure temporary staffing firm performance is to look at quit rates and early termination rates of temporary workers. But how do your rates compare with others in your industry? In Staffing Industry Analysts’ recent Temp Quit Rates, Early Termination Rates report, we surveyed 422 staffing firms to find the answer and as a buyer the results should be very interesting to you when you measure staffing firm performance in terms of quality and efficiency.

Knowing industry metrics such as these can help when establishing service-level agreements and key performance indicators for your program.

Quit rate. The median quit rate — the rate at which workers quit an assignment early — was 5 percent, and the 75th percentile was a whopping 10 percent. But it varies by industry. The rate for light industrial temporary workers is roughly double that of staffing firms overall, at 10 percent. Office/clerical workers were more in line with the general survey results, with a 5 percent median quit rate. Quit rates for workers at IT, engineering and healthcare staffing firms were similar to office/clerical staffing firm workers and the majority of staffing firm workers at 5 percent. The lesson here is to be aware of the differences in quit rates and set your program management standards appropriately when measuring quality and efficiency.

Early termination. When it comes to the early termination rate — the rate of workers dismissed for poor performance — the median for all staffing firms was 4 percent and the 75th percentile was 8 percent. Once again, light industrial posted much higher rates than the staffing industry average, at 10 percent. On the flip side, healthcare staffing firms said just 2 percent of their workers’ assignments were termination early, while engineering firms reported 3 percent median early termination rates and IT 4 percent. The higher the professional level of the worker, the less chance of early termination, but standard metrics can still apply. It is key to look at early termination rates that are outliers as indicators of quality when it comes to staffing firm performance, refills cost time, money and productivity.

So look at quit rates and early termination rates for temporary workers at your company overall. Do the numbers match or do your staffing firms have some work to do? Don’t waste money or your engagement manager’s time; make sure you look at quit rates and early termination rates ongoing through your contingent workforce program office metrics on a quarterly basis.