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General HR

UTS Helps NC State, UNC Find ‘Top-Quality’ Employees

University Temporary Services

Bill Carlson is a strong advocate of University Temporary Services.

The workload for Carlson’s staff in the Materials Support Warehouse increases between May and August of each year, when departments across campus get new equipment and furniture and ask Carlson’s team to come pick up the old stuff. Carlson, the assistant director of materials support, relies on UTS to help him find temporary employees to assist with the influx of work.

“UTS is a way for me to find top-quality workers who not only have the skills but the character traits that we need in this department,” Carlson said.

UTS is an in-house temporary staffing service for NC State and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. UTS helps the universities fill a wide range of positions, including administrative, finance, information technology, research, health care and skilled trades.

UTS is a vital pipeline for talent at NC State and UNC. Last year, UTS helped 1,173 people find temporary work at NC State and UNC.

UTS was founded nearly 40 years ago at NC State. UNC, which used to have its own in-house staffing service, began using UTS to fill temporary positions on its campus about 10 years ago.

UTS has 13 employees, including two temporary employees. The service UTS provides includes posting job openings for hiring managers and helping them screen candidates. UTS maintains a pool of candidates it can search for qualified applicants when hiring managers need to fill a position.

The service handles the onboarding process for temporary employees, and it’s responsible for payroll and timekeeping duties for temporary employees.

One reason why Kristen Schmitt, assistant manager of UTS, thinks departments at NC State and UNC should take advantage of UTS is that it provides a high-quality service at a lower cost than outside staffing services. For example, Schmitt said an outside staffing service may charge a department an additional fee if it wants to end a contract so it can hire an employee permanently.

“We want our people to get permanent positions,” Schmitt said. “There’s no extra charge or anything like that. Essentially, we’re a huge savings compared to outside staffing agencies.”

Laura Cooper, manager of UTS, said she and her staff love it when temporary employees get permanent jobs.

“We really, truly just love helping people,” Cooper said. “Every single person in both offices does. That’s our passion, and that’s what keeps us here. When people go permanent, that’s really our success story. We love helping people find these opportunities to help jump-start their careers.”

Soji Weeks, an accounting technician in the business office at NC State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is one of those success stories.

Weeks worked in four temporary positions — two at NC State and two at UNC — between 2014 and 2019. He started his current permanent position in October.

“From my perspective, the service has been great,” he said. “There were times where I left one position, and UTS had another position lined up for me. That allowed for a lot of seamless transition.”

For more information about UTS, visit the UTS website and our Did You Know section.