Each year, the American Staffing Association (ASA) recognizes the enduring work of a temporary by honoring them with the National Staffing Employee of the Year. For the 2007 award, ASA received over 180 nominations from staffing firms throughout the country. The winner, Agapito Soto, represents the three million temporary and contract employees who work through U.S. staffing firms every business day. These workers personify the value of the staffing industry for its clients and employees.

 

Soto has been working as a contract employee at the Orange County, CA Sheriff’s Department in Santa Ana, CA for over three years. He has worked as an information technology specialist, helping various agencies in the county straighten out communication and software issues that would cripple communications in an emergency. 

 

There is no better example of Soto’s dedication than the week of October 21, 2007, during a wildfire breakout throughout Southern California that destroyed numerous homes and businesses. Soto put in many extra hours and had a willingness to do whatever was necessary to help with the crises. Working with others, he made sure that his desk was manned in 12-hour shifts to ensure that help was available 24 hours a day.

 

Soto is very satisfied having a contract assignment. “I have had several offers to go full-time,” he says. “But I like what I am doing and I like the people I work with.”

 

Soto is just one story out of millions of staffing employees who are a vital part of the workforce in the U.S.