This is the last of a three-part series on temporary staffing in science.

One of the most significant expenditures for any science-based company is its people. Clearly, if a company could reduce its personnel costs without sacrificing any productivity or intellectual resources, its bottom line would look much better. Renting staff...that is, using scientifically trained individuals just when the company needs them—is a method of reducing costs while maintaining the level of sophistication and expertise to which a company is accustomed. Take, for example an

In the past few years, this type of headline has begun to appear more and more frequently Why? In times more economically secure than these-before Gramm-Rudman, the volatile stock market, dramatic takeovers, and increased shareholder awareness-a company set out to do a job, hired staff and hoped to be successful. If, along the way, the company experienced sudden growth, it hired to accommodate the new orders. When business slowed, it laid people off. What companies attempted to do on a large s