According to the American Staffing Association, 16 million temporary employees are hired through staffing firms each year. It’s no surprise, then, that 2% of all American jobs are filled by temporary staff. Temporary staff supplement a company’s permanent workforce under a contract for a fixed period of time or for a specific project. While “temporary” conjures an image of a few days to a few weeks, some staffing assignments can run as long as 18 months.