With the government shutdown reaching day 11, around 800,000 federal employees continue to be out of work. A number of companies, however, are giving furloughed employees the option to become temporary workers at new jobs while they wait to return to their jobs.
One service aims to connect furloughed workers to employers with temporary positions. Tom Clark launched a website where employers have posted skilled work including writing, researching, programming, sales, data analysis and more. Being the marketing executive of a staffing agency in Washington, D.C., Clark was getting questions about temporary work immediately after the shutdown began. Beginning as a Google Doc spreadsheet, his service evolved into a polished website. Clark said he's unable to track the number of hires the website produced, but knows of at least eight positions being filled.
While many skilled workers will be trying out new jobs, unskilled federal employees are also being offered temporary jobs. An event rental service in Phoenix, Ariz., announced hundreds of open positions for furloughed employees. The $10 an hour work will involve working parties and events at their various venues.
For those eager to back to work – to pay bills, or just to occupy their time – the offers are certain to be appreciated.
