the Cost of Temporary Administrative Employees

While starting a small company with a few partners we were in need of temporary administrative help. Many small companies fail and we didn't desire to commit to a full time position until we were assured of the viability of the business. We therefore decided to start with a temp who would handle receptionist, clerical and light typing duties. After looking at several providers, we went with the least expensive which equated to approximately $17 per hour. There are additional fees triggered should you decided to hire the temp as a full time employee. Typical work week for our temporary worker consisted of 30-35 hours a week during typical business hours.

We have had the same temp for almost six weeks and she has performed quite well. She has always shown up to work on time and handled her duties in a professional manner. Our dealings with the actual temp agency who placed her with us are straightforward. It mainly consists of receiving their invoice and submitting payment. We have not yet decided whether we desire to hire full time, but if so we would have considered her as a good candidate, but the relatively high fees owed to the agency would most probably preclude us from doing so.

If you are in a major city there are most probably several possibly agencies to review. With nothing else to go on besides price, that drove our initial decision. We figured if we were unhappy with the temp we'd simply try the next place.