Temp jobs are on the rise. 

Employers have increasingly turned to temp workers because of the flexibility a temporary workforce provides, meaning companies can ramp up or scale down their workforce as needed. So far this year, the industry has employed an average of more than 3 million people nationwide — already surpassing 2021 figures, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The trend holds in Illinois. Last year, the number of temp workers in the state rose by more than 10 percent from 2020 to nearly 170,000 workers. While those figures include office workers, the majority of temp jobs in the state are in industrial facilities. The jobs are filled by staffing agencies, which are concentrated in Cook County and the surrounding collar counties, according to a City Bureau analysis of Illinois Department of Labor staffing agency registration data.

Chicago-area worker advocates said many of the temp workers they interact with have complained about wage theft, retaliation and workplace safety issues. They are not alone. Nearly a quarter of temp workers interviewed as part of a national survey published earlier this year said they’ve experienced wage theft, meaning they were paid less than the minimum wage, not paid overtime rates or not paid for all the hours worked. Nearly 20 percent said they hadn’t received safety training and the majority of workers interviewed said they had experienced some form of employer retaliation for raising workplace issues. 

In the Chicago area, worker advocates said people who gravitate toward the industry are undocumented immigrants or have been incarcerated, which makes them less likely to report abuse, including discrimination.

A 2021 report on industrial temp hiring found that staffing agencies in the Chicago area routinely engage in racial discrimination. The report revealed that when workers of similar gender, age and employment history were paired and sent to look for jobs at staffing agencies, more than a third of the agencies tested favored Latinx applicants over Black applicants. Some only allowed Latinx workers to apply or, when both applied, offered Latinx workers more or better jobs. 

Dan Shomon, a spokesperson for Staffing Services Association of Illinois, which represents about 20 companies in the state, disputed the report’s findings and said that association members are committed to good quality jobs and report similar numbers among Black and Latinx hires to the association.

City Bureau reporters surveyed more than a dozen workers in North Lawndale and neighboring Little Village, which is home to several industrial staffing agencies, about their experiences in the industry. Workers said they had experienced or suspected wage theft and discrimination, and wanted to know how to transition to permanent employment and more information about their rights. Below, we answer common questions from workers. 

WHAT CAN I DO IF I SUSPECT WAGE THEFT? 

Keep good records.

Gather evidence stating the promised wages, such as flyers, contracts or screenshots of online ads, and documents showing a worker’s actual pay, like pay stubs, text messages or emails. Worker advocates said workers should also track their hours and pay. 

“Don't talk to management or employers alone because then they can deny whatever transpired in that conversation,” said Jannelle White, the director of Temp Workers Union Alliance Project. “So, first steps: document, document, document. Take notes and take a witness whenever possible.” 

Tommy Carden, an organizer with Warehouse Workers for Justice, a worker center organizing warehouse and transportation industry workers in Illinois, said that if a paycheck seems short, workers can talk with their coworkers to assess whether it is a one-time error or an issue they are all experiencing. 

Worker advocates stress that temp workers have a better shot at forcing their employer to pay up if they band together and collectively organize at worksites. Some workers have used the courts to collect what’s owed. “One single worker trying to make a legal claim and having a legal case will be less successful than having many coworkers coming together and applying pressure around the same issue,” Carden said.