Getting people temporary work is his full-time job

By Johanna Seltz GLOBE CORRESPONDENT

There's nothing temporary about Joseph Donahue's business of providing temporary workers: He's celebrating his Quincy-based company's 20th anniversary

Donahue, 49, started Microtech Staffing Group in his mother's basement in Waltham in 1985 He'd worked for Honeywell and wanted to be self-employed He hoped he could use his networking skills to find a niche supplying temporary workers to the high-tech industry His company barely survived that first year, earning a meager $600

Over the years, though, Microtech morphed into a major player in the regional temporary staffing world When the high-tech bubble burst -and clients like Wang, Prime, and Digital disappeared -Donahue switched to the medical devices arena, and then diversified into professional services like accounting and administration

These days, Microtech sends out about 1,200 temporary workers a day across Greater Boston to jobs doing everything from light manufacturing to engineering, and generating about $40 million in sales a year, Donahue says

It is ranked as the second largest privately owned temporary employment agency in New England by the latest Boston Business Journal's Book of Lists

The company was able to move out of Donahue's childhood basement after two years, but his mother stayed on as "office head honcho" taking care of the billing and stuffing envelopes until her death last year at age 90

Microtech moved to Quincy, above the Alba Restaurant, in 2000, and now has offices in Medway, Woburn, Danvers, and Londonderry, NH It also just opened a branch in Miami, and is considering expanding to other Florida cities, Donahue says

Donahue says he's also looking into the healthcare market -filling spots for nurses and physical therapists -and increasing services for administrative and accounting jobs in downtown Boston His expansion plans are based on general optimism about the economy

"We're usually six to nine months ahead -temps are the first in and first out -and the economy is moving along," he says "We're getting back to capacity?'

Nationally, the temporary staff business is booming; the US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts it will be the fifth largest growing industry through 2012 The National Staffing Association, a trade organization, says business totaled $158 billion in the first quarter of this year, an increase of 115 percent from the same period in 2004

Donahue says the use of temporary workers has shifted over the years, from fill-ins for people on vacation to a way for companies to cut costs by eliminating the need to pay for benefits such as health insurance His response, he says, is to pay good wages and help provide access to the marketplace

He said 37 percent of his temporary workers have ended up with permanent jobs through their placements Several became millionaires by getting in early with clients who rode the dotcom wave to success, he says

Microtech's workers range from high school students to senior citizens 'Two-thirds are recent immigrants In the 1980s, many came from Southeast Asia More recently, many come from Central or South America

"We've done a good job being a gateway for a lot of the new Americans, getting them into companies," he says "And we're starting to see the children of the people we put in They're more educated and looking for different [jobs], higher-end things, which is a good thing"

Both education and the chance for immigrants to succeed are close to Donahue's heart His mother emigrated from Ireland and had to give up the chance for a college education to go to work

Donahue, who graduated from Boston College High School and Boston College, and then earned a master's degree in business administration from Babson College, is a two-term trustee of BC High, and recently created a scholarship there in his mother's name He and his wife, Beth, also are active at St Paul's in Hingham, where his 12-year-old daughter goes to school

"I just hope we've done a good job opening opportunities to a lot of people of all walks of life and all ages," he says of his company

"Hopefully, it's been a win-win for all of our clients and employees And I hope to have another 20 good years here in Quincy?"