Being a Temp

When I say that my job as a home health aide is emotionally difficult most people say that they can imagine because often I work with people with developmental disabilities or people who's physical state is deteriorating. Though the state of my patients might be difficult to deal with the part that comes to my mind the most quickly has to do with the fact that I am a temp.

I fill in at group homes that have staffing issues or on the short-term while a client is still at home before they are moved to more regular care. Over the past 8 months I have worked consistently 8-56hours/week at a specific group home for 15 people with heavy developmental disabilities. I know the job and the residents really well, my co-workers seem to like me and I know for a fact the administration loves me. Starting pay for their staff is about $8/hour with benefits. However as a temp I cost this group home about $20/hour, just over half of which I see. The fact of the matter is that I am just too expensive for them. Working directly for them I would have to take a 25% pay cut and I'd have to get involved in their messy internal politics.

This week they managed to hire enough staff to become fully staffed effectively letting me go. The part of this that is the most emotionally difficult is that over the past 8 months I have trained 4 or 5 people to do my job each time decreasing my hours and this last time it put me out of a job. I do go to other clients but they don't pay as well, I get significantly fewer hours and it isn't the group home I know so well. One of the many things that this job has taught me is what it feels like to watch your job be given to someone else who is less skilled, less experienced and an unknown only because they are cheaper labor. As a student of economics I completely understand their position.