Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Aug 2, 2008)
Fort Worth-area firm specializes in placing part-timers
Staffing agency links professional people who don’t want to work full time with businesses in the area
They might be moms returning to the work force, graduate students who want to work part time, second-income earners and retirees.
They want part-time, long-term jobs that give them flexibility.
And that’s where 10 til 2 comes in.
The staffing franchise opened this summer in Grand Prairie, specializing in filling part-time positions with college-educated professionals. "Because of the time requirements that children and families require, they don’t want to commit to full time, but they want to keep their head and hands in the work," said Ramona Walden, who owns the franchise for the Mid-Cities and Grand Prairie.
It was the sort of worker that Laura Koch was seeking. Koch, comptroller at the Southlake offices of a drug- and alcohol-rehabilitation center, had often wished that she had an assistant. She didn’t want someone who was temporary or who wanted to work full time but a skilled employee who could jump in and work a few hours a week.
"I was really worried because I wanted someone with a decent amount of experience but wasn’t looking for a full-time job," Koch said. The idea of weeding through huge groups of candidates to find one person seemed daunting.
With the help of 10 til 2, she hired someone two weeks ago.
And she’s not alone. The economy is making employers even more budget-conscious with employment decisions, Walden said. She said her service offers employers a skilled worker who can swoop into a situation for a few hours a day. That can sometimes be more efficient than having a full-time employee.
"It’s pretty important with rising prices that employers don’t pay for anything more than they need," Walden said.
Working mothers
Four mothers left their careers to start Denver-based 10 til 2 in 2003. Their aim was to create alternatives for people who felt that they have to make a choice between going back to work full time and raising a family. The company operates in nine states under 17 franchises.
In Texas, staffing agencies find work for 861,324 employees, generating $5.4 billion in payroll, according to figures from the American Staffing Association.
In 2006, staffing agencies were projected to grow 19 percent by 2016, said Richard Wahlquist, president and CEO of the American Staffing Association. That is nearly double the projection of general employment, which is expected to grow by 10 percent during that time. Some 11.4 million people did some sort of contract work last year, he said.
Finding a niche
Most staffing firms are general, but some specialize in particular professions, such as accountants or nurses, he said. The 10 til 2 concept includes all professional employment but specializes in part-time work. "I think the 10 til 2 niche is still rather unique to our industry," Wahlquist said.
Each 10 til 2 franchise screens potential employees and does testing and bookkeeping for the employers, Walden said. This can be appealing to small businesses that may not have the staff to keep up with the bookkeeping or screening process that comes with hiring.
"This is what the clients love: They don’t have to do much human-resources work, and they get a very high-caliber candidate," Walden said.
Walden knows firsthand how companies can use part-time professionals to realize efficiencies. She used part-timers while she was a senior human-resources manager at American Airlines and worked at a large insurance company in Houston.
"It really stretched our salary dollars," she said.
Online: www.tentiltwo.com