April 21, 2002, Sunday

 

JOB MARKET

 

HOME FRONT; Temps Are the First to Feel a Downturn

 

By Leslie Eaton (NYT) 827 words

LISA MENDES is well-spoken, well-dressed, well-organized - and pain-fully well-versed in New York City's economic woes. That's because Ms. Mendes, 32, supports herself and her 5-year-old son by working as a temp, temporary clerical worker.

 

 

But now there is no temp work, and there hasn't been for months. And Ms. Mendes says she is becoming desperate.

 

She is not alone. Temporary workers are the canaries in the economic coal mines, the ones who feel it first when the economy crumbles.

 

''In a downturn, the first thing companies get rid of is discretionary expenses,'' said James A. Essey, president of the TemPositions Group of Companies. In this particular downturn, office temps have been especially hard hit, he said, with business at some firms down 35 percent or more.

 

Temp employment grew rapidly and steadily throughout the 1990's. But last spring, when the economy began to cool, jobs held through temp agencies quickly plunged by more than 13,000, or 14.5 percent, according to data from the New York State Department of Labor.

 

It will be a while before the state collects statistics that show exactly what has happened since last June, but given the recession and the aftermath of Sept. 11, the omens are not good. Employment in the broad category of business service, which includes temp agencies, fell by about 23,000 from June 2001 to March 2002, the Labor Department reported last week.

 

Historically, temp jobs are also early indicators of economic recovery. Temp poisitions soar as business begins to pick up, because companies are reluctant to add permanent staff before they are sure the economy will remain strong.

 

But New York temp agencies say there is still no surge in sight. ''There is not sign of a pick-up right today,'' said Cliff Stuart, who runs Madison Avenue Temporary Service. ''My guess is that we still have several more months to go.''

 

This is bad news for people like Ms. Mendes, who has been out of work since October. She started tempting in 2000, and when one temporary assignment as an inventory clerk ended on Friday, she had a job in accounts payable the following Monday, she said. ''All of a sudden, now there's nothing.''

 

She insists this is not for lack of trying. ''I've been to so many agencies it's unbelievable,'' she said. ''I've actually lost track.'' She has gone through a program run by the Consortium for Worker Education to assist those who lost their jobs after Sept. 11, and has attended job training sessions. She passed all her skills tests with flying colors, she said, but there just doesn't seem to be much call for workers like her.

 

And there is a lot of competition. It used to be that if a temp agency sent her to a job, she started to work, Ms. Mendes said; but at her last referral, two weeks ago, the boss said they were planning to interview three or four temps before choosing one.

 

She had hopes of another job, a $35,000-a-year position as an administrative assistant, but was told she needed a college degree.

 

''I could kick myself,'' she said. But in Jamaica, where she grew up, ''college was not pushed,'' Ms. Mendes said. And because she was orphaned at age 6, ''I didn't have anyone to push me,'' she added. ''Anything I've done, I've done because of me.''

 

Starting in January, Ms. Mendes became a college student, attending Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn two nights a week until after 10 and on Saturdays. The school has a day care center with cots that her son, Nicholas, could sleep on, but he doesn't.

 

''He is just chipper, bouncing and bouncing,'' she said. ''But when he gets up in the morning to go to school, he's really tired. We're both really tired.''

 

During the day, Ms. Mendes looks for work. She is still receiving unemployment insurance payments, but she said the $218.70 a week she receives after taxes barely covers her costs. Because Ms. Mendes gets food stamps, Nicholas has enough to eat, she said, ''but there are certain things he wants that I can't give him.'' Summer clothes, for example.

 

She rents a bedroom in an apartment she shares in Crown Heights; she does not have use of the living room, so she sits in the dark until Nicholas goes to sleep and she can turn on a light and do her homework.

 

Ms. Mendes is determined to succeed. ''Every month, I'm like, 'Something is going to happen to the economy,' '' she said. But so far, that something hasn't been good.