Women dominate temporary-help industry here

A large percentage of Spokane's temporary-help agencies are run by women, and some of those women say that, in general, females tend to be better suited to work in the industry than males.

Of 28 agencies that supplied information for the most recent journal of Business list of Spokane-area temporary-help

"I'm not saying men can't do this; they can ... but a woman brings that humanistic and nurturing side to this business," says Sheri Perkins, vice president of Provisional Staffing Services, of Spokane, which owns five temporary-staffing agencies here.

Julie Prafke, president of Humanix Corp., of Spokane, which owns Humanix Personnel Services and Promanix, says women tend to own local agencies more often than national companies, but many manage branches or franchise outlets of male-owned national companies.

That's the case at Provisional Staffing Services, a Spokane temporary-help company that's owned by Erick Fahsholtz. Women manage all five of the company's agencies here Accountingpros Personnel Services, Laborsource Personnel Services, Legalpros Personnel Services, Medicalpros Personnel Services, and Provisional Technical.

"Women work well with the compassionate side of human beings and understand that (people) have issues," while men might not be as understanding, Fahsholtz says. He adds that about 75 percent of human resources professionals are women, and that many of the men working in that field are in recruiting rather than temporary-help placement.

Prafke says women are especially successful in the staffing industry because they tend to be better than men at empathizing with a client's needs. She believes women often are drawn to positions in which they can help people, and in the staffing industry, "you're helping employees find jobs, you're helping employers find people, and you're helping your company grow and prosper."

Amy Botsford, technical staffing manager for Provisional Technical, says, "I've always felt that women seem to have ... a knack for reading personalities." While staffing professionals use a wide array of tests to determine whether a person is right for a job, Botsford believes that a person-to-person evaluation still is a big part of making successful placements.

Tom Droz, Spokane-area franchisee for Milwaukee-based Manpower International, believes that men tend to be better suited to jobs that involve planning, and often don't have the organizational skills and ability to handle multiple tasks that women tend to have.

"It is unusual to find a man who is able to function as a staffing specialist," he says.

Droz and the other staffing executives stress, though, that many men also are quite capable of and have been successful in running or owning temporary-help agencies. Prafke adds that the men she's seen be most successful in the industry have nurturing personalities and are good at communicating and building relationships.

The staffing executives say the industry tends to be very family friendly, and that might be because it's dominated by women. That quality also likely contributes to why women gravitate to staffing jobs, they say.

Laughing, Prafke says, "We understand when our employees bail on us" because of family emergencies such as a sick child.

Dixie Thompson, a single mother and staffing manager of Laborsource Personnel, says it's comforting to know she can take time off for family emergencies. Botsford says it's common for staffers in her office to leave work for a few hours to attend their children's sporting events or to take kids to doctor's appointments.

That understanding of family needs helps the industry retain women, and also helps temp agencies heighten staffers' understanding of child-care issues faced by job seekers, Botsford says.

Perkins and Botsford both say it's possible that fewer men than women seek careers in staffing agencies because many men are more interested in pursuing higher paid, executive positions. Still, they contend that temporary-help agency workers make wages that are better than average for Spokane, usually earning a base salary of about $30,000 a year plus commission.

Perkins says most staffing agencies pay commission based on total company sales, not individual sales, which contributes to a need for teamwork rather than competition. She also believes that women often tend to be more comfortable than men when working as members of a team.