Welcome to the era of bankers-for-rent.
Banks, like other employers, are relying increasingly on temporary professional help to fill senior posts. While banks have long hired tellers and clerical workers for brief stints, they are now tapping temps for such high-profile jobs as trust officer or human resources recruiter.
The growing use of these "portable executives," as they are often called, is yet another indication that banking is no longer the secure profession of years gone by.
"Five or six years ago, I know banks would have never considered bringing a commercial lender in for a three- to six-month assignment," said Erick Schilling, president of Schilling Professional Staffing, Wallingford, Pa., which places bankers in temporary jobs. "But they are now."
To be sure, temps still make up a tiny portion of the bank work force-no more than 2% or 3%, according to most estimates. Still, placement professionals say jobs earmarked for temps have grown steadily in recent years.
Professional workers-mostly accountants, technologists, lawyers, and bankers-pulled in 5.8% of revenues generated by all temporary workers in 1995, up from 2.4% in 1991, according to the National Association of Temporary and Staffing Services.
In banking, much of the trend seemed to be taking place quietly.
"Everybody knows it's happening," said Gloria Gerstein, a spokeswoman for KPMG Peat Marwick, a firm that advises banks on staffing and compensation issues.
But banks are tight-lipped for a reason, she said: "There are all sorts of tax implications for consultants who work as employees, so I think they kind of hush it up."
Employment agency executives say that bank mergers, with their resulting layoffs and voluntary departures, combined with the mantra of cost-cutting, are root causes of banks' decisions to seek out professional temps.
Some larger banks are also turning to their own pool of downsized workers for temporary help, paying them hourly wages instead of their former bonus-and-benefit laden salaries. Bankers and placement executives commonly point to Chase Manhattan Corp. as an example. (Chase declined comment for this story.)
"It's a cost savings for the bank, but it's not necessarily the most satisfying thing from the employee's perspective," said Al Galland, president of Professional Financial Temporaries Inc. of New York.
In an industry once known for its stability, the thought of life without a regular income or place of employment makes some people queasy.
But others thrive. Brian Richards, a human resources manager who lost his job with CoreStates Financial Corp. three years ago, has done temporary stints at four banks and enjoys the independence.
"I think people who maybe feel they're exploited have not really focused on certain realities of the job market right now," said Mr. Richards, now on assignment at PNC Bank Corp. "You need to be realistic about what's out there."
Mr. Richards said his income as a temporary worker-make that "consultant"-is nearly what it was when he worked full time.
Needless to say, labor organizations take a somewhat less benign view.
"Banks are making incredible profits, and their response has been to downsize and to outsource," said Richard Bensinger, organizing director for the AFL-CIO. "They're taking jobs that were once decent-paying and turning them into temporary jobs with no benefits."
Bankers were reluctant to discuss their reliance on temporary professionals.
One Chase executive, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said managers who had been trimmed during the bank's merger were only accepting temporary positions as a last resort.
But other placement experts in the banking industry described a new breed of portable executives who have stopped seeking conventional employment.
"The successful portable executive considers himself or herself an independent business entity and gets satisfaction out of doing a job well and solving a problem,"said Marshall Jeanes, co-founder of Imcor, a New York-based executive placement firm.
Mr. Jeanes said banks are looking for people who can solve a problem and turn into a proverbial pumpkin. He gave the example of Poughkeepsie Savings Bank in New York, which once asked for a temporary professional to help with branch consolidation. He sent an executive with direct experience at a much larger bank.
And when two big Dutch banks-Algemene Bank Nederland (ABN) and Amsterdam-Rotterdam Bank (Amro)-merged, Mr. Jeanes supplied people who would work in the New York office until merger day. "The permanent staff was beginning to leave, but obviously there was work to be done," he said.
Laura Fratilla, president of BankStaff, an Atlanta-based employment agency, discourages banks from soliciting temporary rather than full-time help because the positions aren't as attractive. Her pool of employees generally prefer a demotion to a lesser full-time position than a prestigious temporary stint.
"I've had people who come in here and are ready to take that step down because those positions aren't there any more," Ms. Fratilla said. To some, she has pitched the notion of starting their own office of BankStaff-and the franchise is expanding.
Likewise, On Call Temporary Mortgage Professionals of San Diego is opening a dedicated banking practice this month.
"We're finding on the mortgage side that a great number of companies are staffing at 85% or 95% because of the fluctuation in the industry and using temporary professionals as a stopgap," said Dirk Broekema, the chief executive officer. "I'm optimistic we'll have the same success on the banking side."
