(Temporary) Help Wanted

One of the greatest long-term impacts of the Great Recession may just be a fundamental restructuring of how companies find and employ workers. One sign this is happening comes from one remote-staffing company, which released a report today detailing the growth in its business.

The figures from ODesk show some impressive growth. The Redwood City, California, company surveyed its pool of 1 million contractors and employers to find out what was going on in its universe of small- and medium-sized businesses over the past three years. According to ODesk:

• The number of employers hiring contractors on an ongoing basis rose 800 percent.
• Contractors who reported getting assignments longer than six months rose 540 percent.
• The number of companies who used contractor teams of 10 or more people rose 214 percent.
• Demand for contractors with managerial experience rose 489 percent.
• The number of positions paying at least $20 an hour rose 162 percent.

Granted, the numbers don’t reflect the entire universe of temporary workers, just ODesk’s clients and contractors. ODesk isn’t alone in the temporary work space. Its competitors include Elance, Guru, Freelancer, and vWorker—all of whom perform similar missions. The privately-held ODesk has raised three rounds of venture funding from Benchmark Capital, Sigma Partners, Globespan Capital, and DAG Ventures.

Even though ODesk’s survey results speak more about the company’s specific success in placements, ODesk CEO Gary Swart sees clear trends from the results.

“We think there’s three macroeconomic trends happening in the world right now, creating a huge opportunity for what we’re doing,” Swart said during a visit to Portfolio.com’s offices. Those trends: the economy remains a challenge and continues to force smaller companies to do more with less; smaller operations are pursuing global ventures in greater numbers; and the Internet has developed to the point where virtual offices are easy to establish.

“The trend is toward remote contractors,” Swart said. “It’s the fact that people should be able to work for whoever they want on a global basis, they should be able to get paid the wage they’re worth in the global economy, and they should be able to get access to these jobs they want in different geographies.”

While much of ODesk’s business comes in hooking up U.S. companies with workers in foreign countries whose wage scales are lower than at home—with the Philippines rising to the top of countries with outsourced labor—Swart said he’s seeing an increase in U.S.-to-U.S. work relationships.

“We think that the category is ‘ework’,” Swart said. “These trends aren’t slowing down. They’re only going to get bigger.”

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