Oct 7, 2018

October 7 - Kelly Girl: Birth of the Temp Worker


On this date in 1946 William Russell Kelly founded 'Russell Kelly Office Service' in Troy, Michigan, as the first temporary staffing agency that provided temporary secretarial services for clients onsite.
The Kelly Service was founded shortly after World War II, a time when women  joined the workforce in large numbers. Soon the term 'Kelly Girl' entered the lexicon referring to temp workers in general, regardless of gender.  Adelaide Hess Moran has the distinction of being the world's first Kelly Girl.
 
 In 1957 the 'Russell Kelly Office Service' officially changed its name to 'Kelly Girl Service' but changed it's name again in 1966 'Kelly Services Inc' in order to reflect an expanding range of services including office services, accounting, engineering, information technology, law, science, marketing, creative services, light industrial, education, and health care. Kelly operates in 41 countries and territories and employs more than 500,000 individuals annually.