Agencies vs. Employees: An interesting dilemma

As a job seeker, I often wonder what prospective employers envision the ROI will be from a given FTE for a given salary. More often than not these days, it seems that the expectations far "outweigh" the compensation being offered. I know this sounds cliche - the proverbial "everyone's underpaid" syndrome - and I suppose that lower compensation packages are indicative of the true challenges presented by the recession. In short - if there are more people willing to work for less - why pay more?

This got me thinking about the differences between a direct employee fulfilling a given role and responsibilities vs. an agency whose core expertise focuses on the very needs of that job.

Let's pretend a job pays $35K. That's roughly 3K a month. For 3K a month - a prospective employee at that paygrade will perform as well as s/he can based on skill sets and past experiences. Realistically, for a 35K FTE, those skills and experiences may in fact be limited. This employee represents additional costs beyond their salary - including but not limited to "tools of the trade" (PC, cell, PDA, business cards, etc.), potential reimbursements for health insurance, travel, client communications, etc. S/he will also be entitled to paid vacation days, and "susceptible" to natural delays and impasses such as illness, commuting problems, etc.

Now let's pretend the same job was offered to an agency whose core competencies directly correlate with the role's key requirements. The employer saves on insurance, "tools of the trade", and PTO. They get a TEAM of people (as opposed to an individual) whose collective skills and knowledge intrinsically present more resources than a single FTE. An agency is innately programmed to "over-deliver" on-time and on-budget, as their reputation and opportunity for renewals and recommendations depend on these circumstances.

Some employers would argue that outsourcing certain work would "dilute" the genuineness of their brand/products/services because the connectivity of the stakeholders is technically one degree removed. Other employers might see the engagement of an agency as a means of saving money and (under the radar) prospecting for future recruitment.

I wonder if there are any search personnel (recruiters, head hunters, source professionals, etc.) who specialize in placing agencies as opposed to/in addition to individuals. I've heard of "lead generation professionals" for agencies but I know of none that actually delivered. Maybe it takes an expert in recruitment/professional search to "sell" the value of an agency as effectively as they sell the value of individual clients.

Maybe it's a whole new niche. Maybe I'm just nuts and really tired of looking for a job.

PS - check out Hire Power Solutions, Inc. in Chicago, IL if you're looking for a job, as well.

Marc Portugal