Your July "Staff Smarts" piece on temp-to-perm workers
entitled "Here to
Stay" by Chris Penttila describes important factors for
companies to consider when contemplating a decision to migrate an
outsourced temporary employee to full-time status. However, one
unique twist on the staffing equation in the marketplace for
workers was not covered [in the article].
As evidenced by the success of our own staffing company, 10 til
2 LLC, here in the Denver area, there is a huge untapped market of
over-qualified and capable workers who only desire to work part
time, but on a permanent basis. Our women-owned company was
designed from the outset to match these talented people with
companies needing an uncommon solution to their staffing
[issues].
Naturally, our market consists mostly of college-educated moms
who decided when they started families that raising their children
was more important than working full time, but who now, because
their children are in school, have time during the middle of the
day to return to the job market.
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What we have found and continue to build on is the fact that
many companies, both large and small, love having our brand of
motivated, college-educated, part-time workers who offer prior
full-time experience and maturity.
For some employers, the permanent answer turns out to be
permanent part-timers without the HR hassles and associated costs.
It's a win-win strategy for both the employer and the
employee.
Jill Ater
Co-founder
10 til 2 LLC
Denver
Not Sold on eBay
As editor of Entrepreneur magazine, I would hope that you
can provide an objective perspective toward corporations that an
entrepreneur would potentially use as a vendor ("Editor's
Note," July).
EBay has grown to a considerably large company with a large
number of users and is the marketplace for individuals,
organizations and corporations. That said, eBay has a serious
problem with fraud committed by its constituents that it is
reluctant to fully address. Even though eBay encourages the use of
PayPal (an eBay subsidiary), one's fraud "insurance"
is limited to $500, which is insufficient for most commercial
transactions.
Credit cards have some mechanism that permits one to contest
charges for up to the full amount of defective, misrepresented or
unwanted goods or services. EBay wants to cut these losses at $500
and assign them to a subsidiary, because they know a 100 percent
return policy would be detrimental to their business plan and their
bottom line. In the long run, they will hurt their customer
confidence and possibly run afoul of an Eliot Spitzer-esque state
attorney for abetting fraud.
I believe that keeping customers happy and preventing fraud are
not mutually exclusive; however, eBay does not share this line of
thinking.
Jay Riemer
President
Smart Architecture
Duluth, Georgia
Response from Rob Chesnut, vice president of Trust and Safety
at eBay:
As the head of the Trust and Safety department at eBay and
PayPal, I want to assure you that we do not tolerate fraud in our
sites. Every day, eBay and PayPal take direct and aggressive
measures to minimize fraud and to provide methods for users to buy
and sell safely.
One key aspect of the eBay business is our payment service.
PayPal is not simply a "subsidiary of eBay" as you say,
but actually a critical component of eBay's security.
PayPal's world-class anti-fraud engine protects eBay users
every day and has made it the safe way to pay online.
Last fall, we began offering PayPal Buyer Protection, which
protects buyers against fraudulent transactions up to $500. This
free program, which now covers more than 70 percent of items listed
on eBay, has been highly successful in helping build confidence in
the marketplace. Additionally, eBay offers its own purchase
protection program that automatically protects all items bought on
eBay.com for up to $200.
It's also important to note that, like credit cards,
PayPal offers a feature that allows buyers to contest charges to
the full amount of their purchases. And as in the offline world,
buyers have the opportunity to file chargebacks if they used their
credit cards through PayPal. With PayPal Buyer Protection,
eBay's purchase protection program and credit card protections,
most eBay buyers enjoy full protection on their purchases. And of
course, for very high-priced items, such as high-end electronics
equipment, we usually recommend that both buyers and sellers
protect themselves by using a licensed escrow service.
We remain highly committed to maintaining this safe, well-lit
place to do business and to ensuring that the sales on eBay occur
problem-free.
Start Your Engines
Regarding your article "Crisis
Mode" ("Smarts,"
August) about entrepreneurs dealing with higher gas prices, I
believe people need to be aware that the technology for much
greater fuel efficiency is already available. Consumers need to
demand its use in new engines. The Sonex Research
Co. offers technology that enables a gas engine to run using
diesel fuel with greater efficiency and cleaner exhaust. Diesel
fuel is cheaper and easier to refine than gas. This company's
history also offers a good story in entrepreneurship.
Maybe Entrepreneur magazine will run a story on Sonex.
Meanwhile, we should all start requesting better engines from the
manufacturers.
James Bauernschmidt
Severna Park, Maryland
Correction: Writer Judith Potwora's name was misspelled
in the byline of "Breaking
the Chain" ("Smarts,"
July).
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