Temp Agency Experiences - Likes? Dislikes?

Have a potential huge problem on the horizon. My son, who is my main man in the Cnc room (runs two Vmc's and a Cnc lathe) is going to require knee surgery in the VERY near future.

We are already at capacity and working overtime (5 days per week currently) and are booked solid through this month and next month with orders still coming in, and the backlog is filling up quickly with blanket orders through April already.

He's going to meet with the specialist next week to get all the details.

This all just came about in the last week, and my head is spinning with the possibility of losing him for what could be several weeks to even a couple months depending on his recovery. I have a feeling his recovery will not be an easy one for him as he's a big guy, both height and weight, so I think what ever the recovery time duration estimate, I'm thinking it will be the worst.......and is really how I have to plan as well.

I seriously doubt I could fill both his shoes and mine for any length of time beyond a couple weeks. I can always make chips during the day, and work sales and programming from the home office, but that's going to be seriously burning the candle at both ends during an already stressful time.

We do have another employee, but he is mainly working in the saw room, cutting and deburring material, and helping out during short cycle production runs in the machines (loading/unloading).

This brings me to this question.

Temp agencies.........what are your experiences?

It all sounds so good when you read the sales pitches online, but what are those of you whom have had to actually use one have to say about them?

I'm all ears..............

Later,
Russ

Maybe look through the PM's shop owner's tales of woe that focus on "Don't have any work here in oil country" type stuff. See if one, who runs similar machines, wants to take a one or two month 'vacation' in sunny Wrustleville and make some money, over the holidays.

Or, if sales are pretty packed for the next quarter, take a little respite from selling? Or get your son (and heir-immobile) to focus on that during his down time, as you run parts. He'll need to know it eventually.

Chip

there is a learning curve with anybody that would have to run your particular machines and program your normal way or run you programs and setups.
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worked at place that setup said use 3" wheel mill and green tap the holes. of course i got to ask what is wheel mill and what is a green tap. i can run mazak m32 mill but would need training to run mazak lathe. i can think of dozens of times cnc machine can malfunction and the little tricks to get cnc working again. rare for many places to write stuff down. many old timers just have in their head from memory
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or i scrapped a 500lb part once cause setup sheets in clear plastic laminate and electronic copy on computer but nobody told me critical info on setting zero in 3 ring binder side pocket along with old drawings. no M0 warning. just old timer forgot to complete setup info like the other 6 sheets in clear plastic laminate
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i can think of hundreds of times things not documented well that anybody just starting no way they could know how to do.
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average time usually at least a month training bringing somebody up to being able to do stuff on their own with no help. it depends on you work instruction or procedures and how well you got setup info done. many machinist just remember stuff and dont have everything written down. it takes discipline to document stuff for just average person walking in to be able to do quickly with little training

I tried temp agencies several times, construction not machining. Never got anyone good through a temp agency, seems good people already have jobs and are not hanging around a temp agency. Maybe you will get lucky, I think it's a long shot.

i know a lot of over 50 year old people who got layed off and work for temp agency. they just want to work a few years more. plenty of experience
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companies shutdown or moved to another country. when over 50 it is difficult to get job as often nobody want to hire older workers. so many over 50 work for temp agency.
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i often hear people say no problem getting another job when they are 40 or 30. when 50 years old i once sent out 30 resumes and only got 3 replies. just saying not unusual for 90% to not even consider hiring older worker. they will not say you too old. maybe say you over qualified or you wont be happy with the work which is low wage helper work
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i even got walked out of job interview once and told i was not experienced enough for job. my current job i will make $70,000 this year as cnc operator and made $62,000 last year and $57,000 year before that and $52,000 my first year at new job. obviously my current employer thinks i am good enough worker to give me pay raises every year.
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it can be insulting to even go for job interviews. often why many just work for temp agency

I've had two knee surgeries (torn ACL, soft tissue damage and a bunch of scarring) and both times I was in the shop in two days on crutches. What's the big deal?

Was working in contract work after tossed under buss...

Many good folks are available but you need to find a company that knows your business and has established accounts and a crew of folks.

The company that tossed me under the buss tossed a lot of folks and another company needed workers and used a contract company so we all ended up with the contract company and had worked for a few places in lean times.

The last one was one that required a determined skill set and had a picky manager but due to history with contracting company no interview required.

Seek out a good contract firm and check their existing support
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Have them send folks for interviews then be sure to have them there ahead of time for proper training.

Be sure to list all requirements such as experience and training.

Our guy is nationwide company so can provide contact information via pm if needed

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Matt@RFR said:

... scarring ...

What's the big deal?

Click to expand...

I think you answered your own question.

I don't think he will be off anything like that kinda time line, i do think he may not be able to physically do much for a while. I buggered both knees up with in 6 months of one another, took me a good 2 years to get going again as in back to normal, still trying to shed the weight i gained in that time too.

If you can get him a grunt or 2 chances are he can still sit at a desk or lay on a couch and programme, hobble about and set things, just can't lift vices or load. What drove me up the wall was not the lack of mobility, but the mind numbing boredom. Sounds like your at a great point to grow the buis a little and this could be the perfect time to swap him from being just the mill department to the foreman/programmer/???? with a couple of assistants - operators.Come out of this in a months time with more capability to sell - make more parts next year!

This is the perfect time for you to analyze your buying decision over on the Samsung vertical thread you posted...There are so many options to fix this situation but buying another vertical that has to have a body in front of it is probably not one of them. One would be to buy a few year old 400mmm Japanese horizontal for the same price as an optioned out new vertical. Once you realize you can load 2-5 hours into the machine and walk away you will be sold plus all the cycle time improvements. I have 15 machines now and really only 2-3 dedicated employees per shift actually cycling parts. Even a pallet changing vertical would free up one of your employees and not break the bank .

Something like this clean machine.
213 Doosan VC43 Vertial Column moving & Dual pallet CNC Machining Center | eBay

Also I agree he shouldn't be out that long. We are the same situation as you... Family business with 3 of us working here.

I would avoid temp agencies at all cost. Start poaching someone from auto part stores for extra holiday cash if you really need another body. Operating a machine isnt hard... you just need someone with some technical aptitude and a desire to actually work.

I hear horror stories from both sides of fence on the temp front.

Employers
Cant find anyone reliable
Overstate experience and ability
We pay them well and they grumble its not enough
We offer a permanent job but they act like we are liars
Lack of skills

Employees
They send me home without notice, I get to work and they send me home.
Cant find reliable employer
Temp agency sends me to interviews that I am not qualified for.
They pay temp agency well. I get $9 an hour. Walmart pays the same.
They offer very few a permanent job. Most of the plant is temps.
They dont train us.

Many good points....agree with use a big agency who can pull from a large pool, and possibly specializes in the services you require.

Upside is if you get a dud you call the agency and it's over and on to the next candidate.

And, it just might keep you from, against your better judgement, and not that anyone would ever do it, bring someone in off the books.

Recently could have filled a 20 hour per week requirement with some very experienced retirees.......Would have been a super solution...unless of course things went wrong. Now-A-Days....no way-

Call the temp agency and ask questions. If they are any good they should be able to set you mind at ease. Upside is they handle everything including the payroll. You only need to deal with a time statement.

The way it has worked in our area is machinist worth they salt don't go to a temp agency in most cases, in some rare occasions they will to get on with a large company that only hires that way but even then strings have already been pulled and its just a formal thing.

My point is when I was running the last company I worked for, temp agency was a dismal failure.

Think about this..
By the time you get one trained and up to speed it will be time for your son to be back.
You will lose even more production and sleep hand holding.
You may get lucky and find a perfect fit but your going to need a lot of luck.

One thing that may work out better is if you could farm out some of the work.
If there are parts that aren't top secret or high tolerance you may be able to just sub that work out for a short period of time.
You want make any money from it but could relieve the stress of keeping the work flowing to your customers.

If we were closer and knew each other I would be a perfect fit for you.
Being as I am slow as shit I would be more than willing to adjust our shop rate so me and the bills get paid and still leave some meat on the bone for you.

Good luck Wrustle.
Hope your boy comes through much better and faster than you expected.

The agencies are all about themselves, then the client, and (it seems) the employee a distant third.

You might be better off establishing a collective of machine shops running their own temp agency, sharing proven employees.

If the answer is "we have trade secrets", what's to stop a real temp agency from agreeing to that logic, and preventing a qualified machinist being furnished to YOUR shop?

There are unscrupulous clients that screw temp employees out of pay, vacation, etc. and the temp is now labled difficult, given a lifetime bar at the agency. Which deprives a good employer fromm accessing that person at that agency.

If you don't believe that happens, ask ADECCO about Steven William Bausch, Indianapolis. Last employed 2000

Make me an offer and forget the temp agencies.

Trained CNC turner, chuck and swiss style, up to nine axes through three channels, Esprit and Mastercam X8, CAD-CAM conversion. Know my craft including smithing and scraping. Can mill, grind surface and round, hone, lap, polish. English, French, German, Italian

Has anyone suggested a dialog with local trade schools?

My google search suggested a half dozen or more in New England, claiming CNC.

It is hard to find good help. At the end of this don't forget the value of your son, take good care of him, and don't forget to pay him.


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Thanks for all the input. Good points on many fronts.

I guess I'm relating this to my own experience over 23 year ago where I had knee surgery (not once, but twice on the same knee), and despite the initial prognosis of 2-4 weeks, it turned out to be over two months.

I guess I'll find out on Wednesday what the scoop is and what the expectations are..............and then I can panic! So I guess......to be continued?

Sounds like the temp agency is off the table though.

Thanks,
Russ

Sort of a bad situation, most temps are wanting at least a chance at a temp to perm. position. I have a one-man shop, but I do sometimes hire a temp for a few weeks if I get a big production job. I always make it clear up front that it is strictly a temp job. I also tell them if they get an offer for a better job while on my assignment that there are no hard feelings when they leave. I would not want to stand in the way of someone moving ahead.