Robert Half question

MQuinn6

Anyone know the percentage of your pay that a Robert Half recruiter gets from a long-term temp position?

flurrball

Dunno about everywhere, I'm about to get hired on with a company, but Robert Half has been paying me 16.50/hr, and they are charging the company ~28/hr

skrpune

flurrball wrote: »

Dunno about everywhere, I'm about to get hired on with a company, but Robert Half has been paying me 16.50/hr, and they are charging the company ~28/hr

that sounds about right - when I was doing administrative temp work many years ago, the standard was that the staffing company got 40-50% of the hourly rate that the company was paying, so if you make $10/hr they're making 8-10/hr for every hour you work. Not a bad money making system!! Sucks for the person doing the work & the company paying that rate though...it may be less headache to not have to worry about supporting the employee (benefits, HR costs, etc.) but they could probably get more bang for their buck and the person could be earning more money if they were a direct hire.

astorrs

Where I am (Canada) the industry average for IT positions is about 20% of the first year salary for filling a full time employee.

IT recruiting for contract roles is usually 15-35% for each hour worked - with the exact percentage varying from agency to agency and whether or not they have an % agreement in place with the client - common if they are on the clients preferred suppliers list.

For true consulting agencies client rates are typically $100-200/hr and the consultants are often salaried employees (but they get paid even if they are "benched" or in training).

On an aside, be wary of Robert Half - I don't know a single person (client or candidate) who raves about working with them. There are a lot of better agencies out there.

Oh and skrpune 40-50% is highway robbery on both sides!

skrpune

astorrs wrote: »

Oh and skrpune 40-50% is highway robbery on both sides!

I totally agree with you! Which is why I hate the idea of contract work and temporary work. I was even hesitant to take my current job...I technically work at a university, but I am paid by and an employee of a service company. I'm not poorly paid, but I'm certain they get a FAT chunk of money and may be making a killing off of me and are making money that I might otherwise be getting if I worked for the university directly.

astorrs

skrpune wrote: »

I totally agree with you! Which is why I hate the idea of contract work and temporary work. I was even hesitant to take my current job...I technically work at a university, but I am paid by and an employee of a service company. I'm not poorly paid, but I'm certain they get a FAT chunk of money and may be making a killing off of me and are making money that I might otherwise be getting if I worked for the university directly.

I always ask what they are taking on top of the rate they are offering me; transparency is crucial and I won't usually work with someone who isn't willing to be. You'd be surprised how many agencies will be open about this (heck you will often find out what the client is paying from the client themselves!) and anyone who isn't willing too be open about it, is usually stealing from both client and contractor.

eansdad

Some of these "agencies" have paid people $8.50/hr only to bill the employer $60/hr. I've seen it a few time on government work sites around the tri-state area. The best was when I worked for a company to remain nameless..... We worked on a local military contract with about a dozen other people from just about a dozen other agencies. Pay varied from $8-$25/hr for the same job title doing the same job. We even had a super making less then several of the people he was in charge of.

staffing agency = legalized prostitution

I always said why the mob doesn't get into staffing companies, car title/pay day loans and check cashing places I'll never know. You got legalized loan sharking and prostitution at your finger tips. Put the staffing agency next to the loan office with check cashing in side and you got them coming and going.

CompuTron99

When I worked for them in the late 1990's. I found out that they were getting almost 60% more than I was making. I received alot of good experience though, so I won't complain. At least they didn't slap me around much with their pimp-hand when I had to take a day off.

skrpune

eansdad wrote: »

I always said why the mob doesn't get into staffing companies, car title/pay day loans and check cashing places I'll never know.

Actually, they are already in on the pay day loan & check cashing place business. But you didn't hear it from me...

homerj742

I interviewed with them quite a few times. I got lots of big promises, but nothing really came from it.

MQuinn6

Wow! I can't believe it's that large of a percentage. I'm truly shocked.

flurrball

It's a necessary evil, I've had good experiences with the two staffing companies I was with. I got some great enterprise-class experience at times when I wouldn't have even been looked at had I applied on my own. Now that I have the experience, I can be more choosy about which companies to work for.

Plus, my staffers knew, and I knew, that they were making a killing off me, so they took me out to lunches, dinners, and bars enough to make up for it :P

LarryDaMan

Government contracts are even worse. I have literally seen positions allocated 120K and the person is making 40k. It is especially bad if there are contractors, sub-contractors, and staffing firms involved with the same position. Everybody gets a cut.