It probably isn’t your imagination.

According to a new survey from Accountemps, more than one-third of executives (35 percent) recently surveyed said the most important benefit of using interim workers is to help avoid overstaffing followed by layoffs. Twenty-three percent cited the ability to evaluate a prospective employee before making a final hiring decision as most valuable. Seventeen percent say they use temps in order to take the burden off of existing employees.

None of the 150 senior executives surveyed said that using temporary employees is a way to avoid paying full salary and benefits. But many said that using temporary workers helps project full-time jobs.

Sept. 18, 2006.