California has the third highest unemployment rate in the nation. In Kern County, 14 percent of people are out of work. But, more unemployed workers are finding success through temporary jobs.
The oil fields provide the largest number of temporary jobs in Kern County. In fact, some companies rely solely on temp workers in a slow economy.
Every morning, Joseph Padilla puts on his hard hat and heads to work at Chemex. "I worked for Jacobs Engineering for a year and a half, and I got laid off. The economy kind of went down," he said. "After that it was kind of hard, so I've done temp work since then."
Padilla has been a temporary employee at Chemex since January. The company builds modular petroleum refineries and ships them all over the world.
Padilla needs the paychecks to take care of his family of four. He sees the job as a way to get his foot in the door and build his resume. But, he knows at any time, he could be out of work again.
"It's actually kind of scary cause, you know, any day they could say no more work and then I'm out of luck," explained Padilla.
Padilla and nine other men at Chemex are temporary employees. The company doesn't offer them benefits and can let them go at anytime.
"As much as companies get rid of people, they still need that job to get done," said Paul Stanbery with A+ Employment Company.
A+ Employment Company has been finding people temporary jobs since 1991. "In the past year, we've seen a big upswing in more and more clients looking for different kids of people," continued Stanbery.
With temporary workers, companies don't have to worry about paying employees any benefits. Many temporary agencies, including A+ Employment Company, offer temporary employees benefits and health insurance.
"We handle all the billing and paying of the employee. We have a medical insurance the company can buy into. We handle everything for the employer," noted Stanbery.
About 2.53 million people were working temporary jobs as of June, according to the latest labor statistics. That is an increase of more than 40 percent from the summer of 2009, when about 1.75 million people held temporary jobs.
Even as the economy continues to improve, Stanbery predicts companies will be cautious when hiring and stick to temporary workers, making it easier to downsize at any time.