Spherion Staffing Builds on Relationships and Success, Looks Forward to the Future
Spherion Staffing & Recruiting has been in business for 78 years. However, it wasn’t until Larry Miller left the corporate world and decided to open up a franchise in Lakeland in 1986 that it entered Polk County.
“He wanted to work for himself, to own his own company,” said Rachael Maldonado, Spherion’s Business Development Manager. Maldonado has worked for the company for six years, starting in marketing and then moving to sales. “Miller did the research to figure out what industry, what type of company he wanted to own. He found staffing would be most recession proof – people would always need employees.”
He opened more and more locations before turning the company over to his son, David Miller, who had worked for his father for 20 years before taking over in 2017. He’s been running it ever since, acquiring more sites. He now owns eight locations with 30 employees in Central and Southwest Florida, along with Jacksonville. Overall, Spherion serves 13 counties in Florida.
Nationwide, Spherion Staffing has more than 200 locations in 36 states, according to its website. It has found jobs for more than 75,000 people each year, helping 4,000 clients.
Maldonado said what the company views as success mirrors its vision: “Our vision is to drive careers, build businesses and better the communities we call home. That’s what we define success as — helping companies find the talent they need and retain top talent and giving back to our community.”
The company takes “pride in finding the right fit for both our clients and our candidates, so we really take the time to listen and understand our clients’ hiring challenges and culture, and likewise our candidates’ goals and aspirations,” she said.
Who Spherion Staffing Helps
Locally, Spherion Staffing works with people and companies to fill all positions. But its focus is on light industrial manufacturing, which is a large part of Polk County’s makeup. It also finds employees for clerical and administrative positions, and it has a professional division whose recruiters “specialize in higher-skill jobs like accounting, legal, human resources and production managers, all the way up to CEOs,” Maldonado said.
The company has many established clients it has worked with for years because it built strong relationships that are ongoing, she said.
“But we are also bringing in new clients – a mix of ones we go out and find and a lot from referrals from current clients,” Maldonado said. “People call us because they go on to Google and look up staffing agencies. We have a 4.9 rating from over 900 reviews. We have a very good reputation in the community for finding the right fit for candidates and clients. A lot of people come to us because they do their homework first.”
Many referrals come from people Spherion has placed in jobs, Maldonado said. “It could be those who went from temp to hire or were promoted – people who are happy with their placement. They will tell anyone they know looking for work to go talk to Spherion.”
Those they’ve placed who were satisfied and want to move on also often return, she said.
The company remains busy because of all the new talent moving to the area, “When moving to a new area where you don’t know anyone or any businesses, people often turn to us. So, we get a lot of new talent. A lot of people we’re seeing moved from out of state and look to see what’s out there.”
Polk County Talent
Maldonado said the talent pool in Polk County is great, and Spherion is able to pull from it to fill the positions it has open.
“With several higher education institutions providing a consistent source of graduates in various fields, and people relocating from all across the country, we have a decent sized talent pool in Polk County,” she said.
Agriculture and manufacturing have a strong history here, with a good supply of skilled talent, she said.
“We are, however, seeing a shortage of skilled trade workers, and facing the challenge of competing with higher wages in Tampa and Orlando,” Maldonado said.
The shortage is visible in specific niches, she said, but “manufacturing companies and trade schools are trying to find ways to bring people in and train them, so we aren’t lacking in that talent pool,” she said.
Giving Back
Each Spherion Staffing branch holds three volunteer events a year, Maldonado said. Also, donating to one, two or three organizations that they partner with throughout the year.
“As an office, everyone volunteers their time. At the end of the year, they choose one organization, and we make a $1,000 donation,” Maldonado said.
In 2024 in Polk, Spherion supported One More Child, Gospel Inc., and KidsPack.
“One event is back to school — we provide backpacks with school supplies and volunteer at whatever event is giving them away. We did an event at Gospel Village where families there brought out their kids and we had games, snacks, drinks and music,” she said. “All attendees got backpacks.”
Last year the branch also volunteered to do landscaping and cleanup work at One More Child after several hurricanes hit the area.
There’s more, Maldonado said.
“We’re also committed to community development through providing resume assistance and interview practice for both students and adults seeking new opportunities. Bettering the communities we call home is the cornerstone of our vision and is a commitment we’re proud to live out on a daily basis.”
The Future
Having acquired the Jacksonville branch in 2024, Miller and his team are still “building up that office and working through that transition,” Maldonado said. “They moved into a new office building there and are going out to get new clients. Even though it was a Spherion franchise before, they were only doing clerical and administrative, and now they’re doing light industrial and manufacturing too.”
Like many companies, Spherion is also dealing with artificial intelligence (AI).
“While the staffing industry will undoubtedly be impacted by the emergence of AI technologies, companies will always have a need for assistance with their workforce strategies,” she said. “What will remain irreplaceable is the human intuition to know what makes a candidate a good fit. While AI can match qualifications and keywords, it cannot fully replicate the nuanced understanding of company culture, team dynamics and the soft skills that often determine a candidate’s success.”
Overall, Maldonado said: “We are just really proud to have been serving Polk County for 39 years and look forward to the growth and development of the region. We’re excited to continue to assist both employers and employees with their workforce needs for many years to come. Our commitment to this community remains strong, and we’re dedicated to fostering economic opportunity and prosperity throughout the county. As Polk County evolves, we’ll be right here, adapting our services to meet changing demands while maintaining the personalized attention and expertise that has been our hallmark for nearly four decades.”
