This spring UTemp Staffing celebrates its 75th anniversary as the University of Washington’s in-house contingent staffing agency. Known as the Stenographic Service Bureau for its first five decades, UTemp has evolved into a program that assists departments to quickly hire temporary or extra help for a multitude of positions — from entry-level support to experienced administrators. In just the first few months of this year, hundreds of temp and non-perm positions were hired through UTemp and worked more than 50,000 hours in positions across the UW and remotely.
UTemp embodies the UW’s standard of excellence with a highly knowledgeable and committed team that boasts a combined 115 years of experience at the UW, with the majority of their service in UTemp: Manager Heather Harvey (23 years), Fiscal Specialist Barbara Letostak (23 years), Recruiters Claudia Muñoz (26 years) and Jake Paul (17 years), and Help Desk Specialist Matthew Wanderski (26 years).
“Our small, but mighty, team thrives on coming up with responsive and creative solutions to meet departments’ needs,” said UTemp Manager Heather Harvey, “Our work is rewarding and we take great pride in finding and matching qualified candidates with diverse work opportunities. While some need short-term work and come and go, for others, it provides their first UW job, a foot in the door, and a potential career here.”
Relationships and quality are key
Over the years, UTemp has placed thousands of qualified job-seekers in short-term positions and launched countless University careers. As much as UTemp’s recruiters enjoy connecting with new job-seekers and introducing them to employment at the UW, they also excel at cultivating long-term partnerships with hiring managers from across the UW.
“My team has had the opportunity to work with Claudia Muñoz on a few temporary hires. She has been super every time we have engaged,” wrote John McCarthy, M.D., Assistant Dean for Rural Programs, UW School of Medicine. “She is helpful, personable, invested, committed and simply ’nice.’ …Claudia has made our teams and my life easier.”
UTemp’s substantial repeat business from both hiring departments and candidates speaks to the high-touch, concierge-style services they provide.
“Jake reached out to chat with me and learn about my background. He saw potential in me and helped match me to a position that was a great fit for my skillset. I learned valuable new skills and gained confidence in myself,” explained Jules Hansen, now human resources manager with School of Medicine, Surgery. “This experience helped me land a permanent position in UW. I would not be where I am today professionally or personally without the support of UTemp.”
As a testament to UTemp’s impact, one former temp — who had a number of assignments through UTemp before being hired permanently and then later retiring from the UW — bequeathed money to the UTemp program in her will.
Any and every kind of job
As an example of UTemp’s breadth, temporary staff hired through UTemp were on shift monitoring Mt. St. Helens during its eruption in 1980.
No job is too big or small for the UTemp team. They recently placed a Food Pantry Manager in Tacoma and are currently partnering with Housing and Food Services to fill 80 Summer Conference Housekeeping positions.
Self-sustaining service
UTemp became a self-sustaining unit during a reorganization in April of 1951 that included development of a schedule of fees along with personnel and operational policies. In much the same way private temp agencies operate, UTemp charges fees to cover the administrative costs associated with resourcing, screening and placing candidates.
You can learn more about UTemp’s service levels and fees on their website, or sign up to attend the UTemp Info Session (Wednesday, June 10, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.) to learn more about how UTemp might benefit your department.