Fort Smith-based Staffing Association of Arkansas joined Tuesday with Gov. Asa Hutchinson at the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce to announce a drive to place 100 Arkansans in permanent jobs over the next 100 days.
The jobs, listed and managed on the association's website, include everything from construction workers and bank clerks to legal assistants and factory managers. Both full- and part-time jobs are being offered. Temporary jobs offered on the site will have the possibility for permanent placement.
Staffing Association of Arkansas consists of staffing agencies, recruiting firms, employment industry suppliers and supporters who work to spread awareness about the employment industry statewide. The 100 Jobs in 100 Days Campaign pairs unemployed people with permanent full-time work for free. More jobs can be added if deemed necessary by association members. The association's website also will offer updates about the campaign.
The group's only revenue is from member dues, which are $250 a year. The dozen or so members include Little Rock-based First Staff Inc. and Medlinc Inc., and Employment Solutions Inc. of Bryant.
The group's new president, Miles Crawford of the Go Ye Inc. staffing company in Fort Smith, noted that Hutchinson was elected on a platform that included both new job creation and workforce training. Both mirror the association's mission, he said.
"SAA understands the correlation between a strong and growing economy and a strong and growing staffing industry," Crawford said. "Our members realize that the success of the staffing industry is directly tied to job creation and sustained business growth across the state.
"If employers aren't growing and hiring, our industry isn't growing," he said.
Hutchinson said he likes that staffing companies are efficient, flexible and that they train prospective employees "so that workers and staff fit the needs of industry."
He encouraged the association to work on placing more people as computer coders. Some 1.2 million jobs in computer science will need to be filled nationally between now and 2020, the governor said.
"We're going to have to work hard as a state and a nation to make sure we have the skilled workforce to meet those needs and to give our young people the job opportunities of the future," Hutchinson said.
The association wasn't active from about 2008 until recently, when Crawford took over. The campaign also is being used to reintroduce the group's mission and brand and to recruit new members.
"We want to remind job seekers across the state that staffing agencies are a viable resource for finding permanent employment. Too often a lot of candidates think our industry is only for temporary and low-income employees," Crawford said.
Business on 07/01/2015