contract work, however, there are
millions more employees who work in
the staffing industry over the course
of a year than are accounted for in the
daily average.
To determine annual employment in
the staffing industry, ASA collects data
on the number of Form W-2s issued
annually to temporary and contract
employees by the staffing firms that
Figure 8: From the End of the Great Recession Through the End of 2010, U.S.
Staffing Firms Added More than 766,000 Jobs—From a Low of 2.05 Million in
2Q09 to 2.81 Million in 4Q10.
Temporary and Contract Staffing Average Daily Employment (in Millions)
2.5
3.0
3.5
3.21
Quarterly Trends*
Annual Totals
3.21
3.09
2.87 2.99
3.02
3.19 3.12
2.75
2.81
2.58
2.74
2.58
2.56
2.34
Key to Job Creation Is in
Entrepreneurs and Work Visas
First, give every foreign graduate student
in a U.S. science, technology, engineering,
or mathematics program a work visa or a
green card. Foreign-born technologists are
among the most predictable creators of new
companies. Second, make health care more
portable and entrepreneur-friendly. More
people would strike out on their own if they
knew that they had health insurance to rely
on. Third, do away with laws that hamper
entrepreneurs, including some existing pat-
ent laws. Finally, create a federally driven
campaign to force states to compete on the
basis of entrepreneur-friendliness.
2.12
2.18
2.0
1.69
1.35
1.0
1.5
1.15 1.16
0.5
0.0
2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990
*Note: quarterly data collection began in 1992
Source: American Staffing Association, Employment and Sales Survey
—Paul Kedrosky, senior fellow at the
Kauffman Foundation
Figure 9: In 2007, Before the Great Recession, Staffing Employment Accounted
for 2.3% of the Nonfarm Work Force. In 2009, it Dropped to 1.7%. In 2010, the
Proportion Rebounded to 2.0%.
Supercharge the Export
Potential of Major Cities
Temporary and Contract Staffing Employment as a Percentage of Total Nonfarm Employment
3.0
Cities should concentrate on overseas buyers. The federal government should set a strong
national platform for exports, starting with the
immediate ratification of free trade agreements
with Korea, Panama, and Colombia.
2.5
2.4 2.4 2.4
2.4
2.3
2.3
2.3 2.3
2.2
2.1
2.1
2.0
2.0
2.0
1.9
2.1 2.0
1.5
1.5
1.7
1.2
—Bruce Katz, vice president and director of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy
Program, and James S. Rubin, Brookings trustee and senior partner at BC
Partners Inc.
1.1 1.1
1.0
Recessions
(Shaded Periods)
0.5
0.0
2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990
Continued on page 30
