Slight back story: after 3wks of not hiring on any temps, one of the recent properties I've worked at has brought temps out in force to... I don't really know. Because yesterday was President's Day, the college we're trying to canvass was closed, so nobody was around, and I spent about half my day quite literally doing nothing. I don't mind getting paid to sit on my ass, but it struck me as odd that a place that's trying to accommodate one college, while still being privately owned, doesn't know something as important as which holidays mean class is cancelled. Then, today, I'm handing out flyers to promote a lunch truck/ticket raffle in an (IMHO underhanded) attempt to get cell numbers and emails for the property's database.
This place, I'm convinced, is staffed by some of the most incompetent people in Los Angeles. First off, they've been promoting almost daily since August, using all manner of handouts, giveaways, and irritating "Oh hi would you like this flyer and cheap trinket on your way to class" that I've come to hate about where I live. It's gotten to the point that the entire area knows who they are, and either takes advantage of them, or can't stand them.
Second, there doesn't appear to be a clear chain of command, or anyone in a position that's really related to what they were hired for. The manager is more of an accountant, the assistant manager and leasing agents spend more time promoting on the streets than handling leasing and office duties, the "social media director" is so out of touch that it's funny (she's probably most qualified to manage, which is terrifying because of how she manages), and the temps (including me) are almost always left without direction or instruction, while being expected to perform tasks that routinely do not follow anything in our job description.
Today was, in fact, the first time I saw a temp doing something she was qualified for, followup phone calls with potential residents. Otherwise, they've been out on the street, peddling trinkets and pamphlets to people who've rather had enough of us and our antics. And that's assuming we're given an actual assignment. It hasn't been uncommon to sit around for an hour or two because nobody knows what to do with us; given the rate charged for each temp, and the number of temps they tend to hire (3-5), bringing us out to sit on our asses for half the work day is a colossal waste of money. Granted, so is just about everything else this place does in the name of PR and being "hip" with the college kids, and I'm more than happy to get paid for doing nothing, but after 4mo. of this, it's gone from amusing to sad.
It doesn't exactly help that my fellow temps and I aren't exactly being given much respect. For starters, we were told to be at this place all week from 10-7. First problem, the office closes at 6, so I don't know how we're supposed to be there an extra hour. Seriously, that should be an easy one to get right. Second, is being given an assignment for all day, then being sent home halfway through because the office is out of ideas for what to do with us. If you only need help for half the day, only hire it for half the day; I'd love to know that I've got more of my day to do other things, because I just may have a lot of other things to work on. It's also nice to not look forward to a paycheck that's half the size you're expecting. Third, I get that there are a lot of us, but if you're going to hire what's essentially double your workforce, make a fucking effort to learn our names, and not just refer to us as "the temps" all day. It's rather insulting, especially since I've been here off and on since November, going beyond the tasks you assign me to make this place work.
I am seriously tempted to ask their corporate bosses if I can try to run the place for a week and see if I can do a better job. The chances of them losing out more than they already do seems rather slim.
TL;DR, I am not pleased with my current work assignment.
