The Rent-a-person revolution

Outsourcing, or the prominence of temporary help services, is directly linked to the increased turnover of job changes. Instead of taking months to recruit staff it is possible to assemble a complete staff compliment in a short space of time. Temporary employees are used in political campaigns to man telephones or to perform physical canvassing. They have been deployed in emergency duty in printing plants, hospitals and factories. They have been used in public relations activities. Tens of thousands of them fill routine office-work assignments to help the regular staff of large companies through peak periods. The rental, or the more fashionable term of outsourcing is like the rental of physical objects, spreading all over the business world.