Has anybody ever done any electrical work through a staffing agency?

[Eddy Current]

Do they have benefits, do they pay good, how does it work?

 

[growler]

Do they have benefits, do they pay good, how does it work?

Many years ago I did some work through a staffing agency.

I made better money than I would have working at a regular job (locally).

Down side: You are not guaranteed a job and can be sent home at any time if the employeer is not satisfied.

As far as pay goes some of the jobs pay good and others not so good but you don't have to accept any job but then you make nothing. It's all up to you. You tell them what you will accept as far as pay goes. You also tell them how far you will travel and types of work you are willing and qualified to do.

 

[Eddy Current]

Many years ago I did some work through a staffing agency.

I made better money than I would have working at a regular job (locally).

Down side: You are not guaranteed a job and can be sent home at any time if the employeer is not satisfied.

As far as pay goes some of the jobs pay good and others not so good but you don't have to accept any job but then you make nothing. It's all up to you. You tell them what you will accept as far as pay goes. You also tell them how far you will travel and types of work you are willing and qualified to do.

Im a helper how would they work with that?

 

[growler]

Im a helper how would they work with that?

If a company is looking for helpers with a certain amount of experience( normally short term) they contact a staffing agency. They agree upon a price paid to said staffing agency per man. The staffing agency makes an offer to the helpers that they have on the books. If they get enough people at that price that's what they pay and if not they normally up the pay until they get the people needed if they can still make a profit.

 

[petersonra]

I know a fair number of people who have worked through temp agencies doing a variety of things. Some were quite happy with the way it worked, others less so. Usually the people doing more skilled work were happier with how it went, and those who were doing mostly laborer type jobs were far less thrilled.

 

[__dan]

Do they have benefits, do they pay good, how does it work?

I did three days. Pay was quick, benefits probably vapor.

After the first hour I was troubleshooting and doing punch list in a retail box store renovation. Every box I opened from 4" sq to 24" x 24" was worse than a bird's nest. Every splice failed workmanship. How many 12's can you put under a red, grey, blue. Not as many as I saw then, more than imagineable. Wire under the wirenut, the stripped length varied from 1/4" to 1 1/4", all the end staggered.

After 10 AM, I was for the first time in my life praying for the end of the day. I felt so sorry for the EC we were assigned to, but he seemed to be able to go about with a good attitude and gift for responding to the PM with finesse. One of the other temps that day was an apprentice 20 years ago I worked with. He had been temping for most of that time and liked it. Job requirements are probably as difficult or as easy as you make them to be. Going futzing about or burning with fire will get you the same pay and consideration.

Actually if their stuff burns, it may be just like the last job. But if it's you with the fire burning, that may scare them.

It was funny, I did one day temp with another contractor at the same time. I was looking for work. Finishing a new fit out, chain coffee shop. I was assigned to wire the icemaker with rooftop compressor and I'm looking WTF, why is there a three phase feed to a single phase with neutral 208 v load. So I inquire and the nearby plumber is laughing, the last one they wired smoked. I was happy to save them the 3 pole breaker and the contractor was saying, you just saved me an icemaker.

Less than an hour later he had two guys inside the walk in cooler, working on the shop power panel located inside, (don't ask me why it was inside the cooler, I did not care). I'm standing with my head down working on the icemaker and I hear bbbbrrrrrzzzzzzttttt. I did not move or react. I just kept my head down going heeeheeeheee. I thought it was hilarious. I'm bad, I know, baaad, baaad man.

Pay was quick again.

If you need to, take the paycheck until something better comes along.

 

[Eddy Current]

I did three days. Pay was quick, benefits probably vapor.

After the first hour I was troubleshooting and doing punch list in a retail box store renovation. Every box I opened from 4" sq to 24" x 24" was worse than a bird's nest. Every splice failed workmanship. How many 12's can you put under a red, grey, blue. Not as many as I saw then, more than imagineable. Wire under the wirenut, the stripped length varied from 1/4" to 1 1/4", all the end staggered.

After 10 AM, I was for the first time in my life praying for the end of the day. I felt so sorry for the EC we were assigned to, but he seemed to be able to go about with a good attitude and gift for responding to the PM with finesse. One of the other temps that day was an apprentice 20 years ago I worked with. He had been temping for most of that time and liked it. Job requirements are probably as difficult or as easy as you make them to be. Going futzing about or burning with fire will get you the same pay and consideration.

Actually if their stuff burns, it may be just like the last job. But if it's you with the fire burning, that may scare them.

It was funny, I did one day temp with another contractor at the same time. I was looking for work. Finishing a new fit out, chain coffee shop. I was assigned to wire the icemaker with rooftop compressor and I'm looking WTF, why is there a three phase feed to a single phase with neutral 208 v load. So I inquire and the nearby plumber is laughing, the last one they wired smoked. I was happy to save them the 3 pole breaker and the contractor was saying, you just saved me an icemaker.

Less than an hour later he had two guys inside the walk in cooler, working on the shop power panel located inside, (don't ask me why it was inside the cooler, I did not care). I'm standing with my head down working on the icemaker and I hear bbbbrrrrrzzzzzzttttt. I did not move or react. I just kept my head down going heeeheeeheee. I thought it was hilarious. I'm bad, I know, baaad, baaad man.

Pay was quick again.

If you need to, take the paycheck until something better comes along.

What does "pay was quick" mean? Do they not do a normal 40 hour week and paid at the end of the week? Sounds kind of like going around and doing service calls, and going around behind people and fixing their screw ups.
Did the one you worked for have any kinds of benefits?

 

[__dan]

What does "pay was quick" mean? Do they not do a normal 40 hour week and paid at the end of the week? Sounds kind of like going around and doing service calls, and going around behind people and fixing their screw ups.
Did the one you worked for have any kinds of benefits?

It was a regular payroll job with paycheck. Probably work one week and get the check the next week. I have no idea about the benefits, probably nothing extending beyond the statutory minimums, and they probably have ways of scamming you out of that, workman's comp, unemployment. Probably no paid vacation or holidays.

There are certainly guys who temp long term.

The typical job is probably fast track GC work where they never allow sufficient time in the schedule in a civilized manner. So the EC bids it then gets in a jam with the fast schedule and has to man up the job in phases beyond his normal crew, which may be small. I would expect you would be on larger jobs, but due to the disposable nature of the workforce, or even the contractors, subs, there will be an added layer of generally unprofessional staffing. Guys will be there just to get there bellies fed, their sex, and their sleep. There will be a demographic spread of talent and you will certainly see some very good people rotate through there, generally making statements like "halp, my coworker is hacking me".

Give it a try and try to amuse yourself with the work. If you feel abused on the job, just throw down the tools and start singing and dancing. All jobs come to an end sooner or later.

 

[norcal]

I did three days. Pay was quick, benefits probably vapor.

After the first hour I was troubleshooting and doing punch list in a retail box store renovation. Every box I opened from 4" sq to 24" x 24" was worse than a bird's nest. Every splice failed workmanship. How many 12's can you put under a red, grey, blue. Not as many as I saw then, more than imagineable. Wire under the wirenut, the stripped length varied from 1/4" to 1 1/4", all the end staggered.

After 10 AM, I was for the first time in my life praying for the end of the day. I felt so sorry for the EC we were assigned to, but he seemed to be able to go about with a good attitude and gift for responding to the PM with finesse. One of the other temps that day was an apprentice 20 years ago I worked with. He had been temping for most of that time and liked it. Job requirements are probably as difficult or as easy as you make them to be. Going futzing about or burning with fire will get you the same pay and consideration.

Actually if their stuff burns, it may be just like the last job. But if it's you with the fire burning, that may scare them.

It was funny, I did one day temp with another contractor at the same time. I was looking for work. Finishing a new fit out, chain coffee shop. I was assigned to wire the icemaker with rooftop compressor and I'm looking WTF, why is there a three phase feed to a single phase with neutral 208 v load. So I inquire and the nearby plumber is laughing, the last one they wired smoked. I was happy to save them the 3 pole breaker and the contractor was saying, you just saved me an icemaker.

Less than an hour later he had two guys inside the walk in cooler, working on the shop power panel located inside, (don't ask me why it was inside the cooler, I did not care). I'm standing with my head down working on the icemaker and I hear bbbbrrrrrzzzzzzttttt. I did not move or react. I just kept my head down going heeeheeeheee. I thought it was hilarious. I'm bad, I know, baaad, baaad man.

Pay was quick again.

If you need to, take the paycheck until something better comes along.

Sounds like a Hoshisaki ice machine, electrician hooked one up to the high leg & was quite lucky that was not on the leg used to power the 120V condenser fan & water pump & the board shut the machine down due to high voltage.

 

[growler]

After the first hour I was troubleshooting and doing punch list in a retail box store renovation. Every splice failed workmanship. How many 12's can you put under a red, grey, blue. Not as many as I saw then, more than imagineable.

After 10 AM, I was for the first time in my life praying for the end of the day. I felt so sorry for the EC we were assigned to.

Why would you feel sorry for the EC ? It was his job so why did he allow it to get in a mess like that to start with ?

 

[__dan]

Why would you feel sorry for the EC ? It was his job so why did he allow it to get in a mess like that to start with ?

He was obviously a nice young guy with a wife and kid. Not at all shady. He had a gift for choosing his words. It was a moderately sized clothing store where women shop, probably 60.000 to 70.000 sf. The store was open while they were finishing, don't know if they ever closed for the renov. He had me driving the lift around the clothing racks and the customers to troubleshoot the lighting, like 20+ ft up, above the ceiling grid, with women shopping underneath the lift. Miswired EM ballasts, stuff they started and never finished.

He was obviously in over his head but did not know enough to know that. Who would use a 24" by 24" as a j box and run 30+ 12-2 MC into it, no labels, just wire and wirenuts. Overstuffed boxes you could not open and unfold, the wirenut splices would not take movement. 277v lighting and I asked for a circuit tracer, he said to short the wire to identify the breaker. I had a 16,000 gvw box van in the parking lot and used my stuff.

I felt sympathy, but obviously everyone else had their eye on getting their money out of the job.

Trade work is something to take pride in and make a living at. Idealistic, I know. They deny you your living then deny you your pride.

 

[__dan]

Should add that I felt the sympathy for me also. If had to bid in that market and compete with that, I knew I could not. The temps would make more take home pay than the EC. But even in the more difficult and challenging markets I was targeting, I saw competitors with the generally same level omissions, just some more willful and intended than others.

 

[Lewis Chandler]

Staffing Company

Staffing Company

I worked for an electrical company many years ago that hired its employees through staff leasing. The only difference is that you do not work directly for the company. This is a tax advantage for the electrical contractor. We had insurance and paid vacation but the leasing company was the responsible party. It worked out for me because I am a lay off gypsy. Finish the job, get laid off and then move on to another company.

 

[Fulthrotl]

Who would use a 24" by 24" as a j box and run 30+ 12-2 MC into it, no labels, just wire and wirenuts.

Trade work is something to take pride in and make a living at.
Idealistic, I know. They deny you your living then deny you your pride.

around here, in office TI, that was a pretty common practice.
two 2" emt up to a 2'x2'x6" box above the T bar, all the MC
hits there and is skinned long, then sorted odds and evens,
and put down the 2" conduits into the panels. circuit # written
with sharpie inside box next to MC cable.

no splices in the box, other than the odd one or two. it's
pretty fast to do that way, and you've three 2"" conduits
into the top of a 225 amp panel. one feeder, and two
branch circuits, so it looks pretty clean in the panel room.

but nobody was getting dinged for derating the conductors
for being in a 4' length of pipe.

 

[GoldDigger]

...but nobody was getting dinged for derating the conductors
for being in a 4' length of pipe.

Shorter than 10% and shorter than 10 feet, sounds good to me.

 

[__dan]

around here, in office TI, that was a pretty common practice.
two 2" emt up to a 2'x2'x6" box above the T bar, all the MC
hits there and is skinned long, then sorted odds and evens,
and put down the 2" conduits into the panels. circuit # written
with sharpie inside box next to MC cable.

That I'm familiar with, 2" EMT stubs up to a trough or gutter.

There was no panel under it, no conduit in or out, above the ceiling in the customer area where the bathrooms are. Panels were 30 or 40 ft away in a service, stock area. I had no idea what purpose the big splice box was serving, looking like a 30 legged spider. I knew as soon as I touched it the splices would start falling apart. I was trying to not look at it, among the worst new work I've ever seen.

 

[Sierrasparky]

We've used them and it is great.
Some agencies will let you hire them on permanent if you need and it works out.

It's a good win win in my book.

 

[Eddy Current]

So say for instance a job that they offer is just too far to drive, or doesn't pay enough, you can deny it and they're ok with that?

 

[JDBrown]

So say for instance a job that they offer is just too far to drive, or doesn't pay enough, you can deny it and they're ok with that?

Correct. Although I have heard that they're less likely to call you first for the next job if you turned the last one down. Don't know how true that is, though.

 

[growler]

So say for instance a job that they offer is just too far to drive, or doesn't pay enough, you can deny it and they're ok with that?

Correct. Although I have heard that they're less likely to call you first for the next job if you turned the last one down. Don't know how true that is, though.

You really don't have a job until you accept work. There is nothing to prevent a person from putting his/her name of the books of half a dozen temp agencies and just see what they come up with.

You tell them what distance you are willing to travel and the least amount you are willing to accept. If you are willing to travel you can keep that minimum amount a lot higher. The best paying jobs will normally be industrial and they may need temp help for months and many of them work lots of overtime. You also will not see the amount of crap work you see on smaller jobs.