An odd story in the NY Times on one form of work
Look Busy, Feign Interest and Be Paid
06/06/2001
The New York Times
Bored with the daily grind? Consider a job as an
impersonator. It is quite the rage these days.
As the service sector grows, an increasing number of people
are being paid to pretend to be somebody
they are not. They sit as make-believe jurors to help
lawyers sharpen their oratory. They pose as
customers in restaurants to check on the bartenders. They
crowd the seats near the stage in talk shows
to make sure somebody claps at the right moment. They even
rush around normally placid workplaces
to make a favorable impression on visitors.
That is what Robert, a 66-year-old mechanical engineer from
Boston, did after he was laid off. A
potential client was coming into the office, and his old
boss wanted it to look busy. So he hired Robert
to come in and feign work. ''I sat at the computer and
called up an old design I had worked on, and
started playing with it,'' said Robert, who insisted that
his last name not be used. ''There was nothing
else to do.'' He was paid the same wage he received when he
did the work for real.
Padding staff is a common ploy among start-ups. Kate Brant,
staffing manager for Pro Staff in Boston,
remembers helping one young venture beef up its skeleton
crew. ''They mentioned that it is hard for
their clients to understand how they can run a business of
that size and not have physical bodies
there,'' Ms. Brant said. She did ask that the company find
some nominal tasks, like stuffing envelopes,
for her workers.
Matthew Swanson, president of the Express Personnel
Services office in Redmond, Wash., also took
no particular pride in assigning mock jobs for a local
company that wanted to add heft to its staff. ''We
just went along with it,'' he said.
Temporary staffing agencies like his are usually the first
resort for filling phantom jobs, whether the
employer wants candidates to fake working or fake not
working. Lisa Schmitter faked not working. She
would come home from her day job at Express Personnel in
Trevose, Pa., change into jeans and T-shirt,
and go hang out in a bar. But while she always ordered a
drink, she never sipped it. Ms. Schmitter, 25,
was helping a large restaurant chain check up on the
diligence of its staff and was noting whether the
bartenders asked for her ID.
She had to make two trips to each of 14 restaurants each
month, which was ''a little time-consuming,''
she said, but it was easy and the money was decent. The
worst moments came when bartenders were
fired, often on the spot, for not asking for her ID.
''That made it a little difficult to continue,'' she said.
''I tried to get out of there as soon as possible.''
Professionals in her line of work, known as mystery
shoppers, have been around for decades. But
Christopher Causey, director of business development for
TrendSource Inc., which sends out mystery
shoppers, says the practice has spread to a greater variety
of industries. TrendSource's revenue has
shot up 40 percent a year for the last five and a half
years, he said.
''Even during tight economic times, we will see companies
that will look to initiate this type of service
because of the realized benefits of increasing the quality
of their customer service,'' Mr. Causey said.
Keith Alter, president of Alternative Solutions Inc. in
Boston, sent workers to a bank with customer
service problems to pose as customers demanding tricky
transactions. He has also provided people as
an audience for lawyers wanting to practice their courtroom
deliveries. ''They just wanted some people
that would not cause any trouble,'' Mr. Alter said.
Diane Warner, staffing coordinator for Express Personnel in
North Houston, Tex., also supplies mock
jurors to law firms. ''Some of my people said it was very
boring,'' she said. ''They had to drink coffee in
between breaks to stay awake.'' At least they earned about
$15 an hour, more than real jurors do.
The list of role-playing jobs is almost endless. Ms. Warner
says one business asked her to send people
over to play around with its Web site as if they were
customers and to comment on its good and bad
points. Leo Craig, owner of the Express Personnel franchise
in Trevose, received a request from a
market research company that was training employees to
conduct market research interviews. He sent
''everything from Ph.D.-candidate-type people to people
from other countries,'' he said.
Perhaps the ultimate nonjob involves no questions, no
talking, just standing around and looking tough.
When a professional wrestling outfit was filming an event
at the CenturyTel Center in Bossier City,
La., Larry Wilson, the arena manager, said he put out a
call for ''gentlemen between 20 and 30 years old
with a big build.'' Placed strategically next to doorways,
the men had only to look like bouncers keeping
order.
Others who crave the spotlight have found solace in talk
shows. Often those well-dressed,
professional-looking people sitting in the first few rows
of the studio audience are being paid to clap
their hands. Television producers find them more appealing
than the T-shirt-and-baseball-cap crowd
that lines up for free tickets.
''It's an easy job,'' said Lisette St. Claire, who works
for Central Casting in Burbank, Calif. ''You sit
there and you get paid to clap and you have fun.''
She also casts for laughers -- people who lend their
guffaws, chuckles and titters to the taping of a
show.
Pat Nixon, 70, of Glendale, Calif., tried out as a laugher
a few years ago because she needed extra cash
to supplement her Social Security. She describes her laugh
as ''titillating'' because it incites others to
laugh as well -- just what casting directors want.
While most audience work is sporadic, laughing can be a
relatively steady part-time job, she said. When
Fran Drescher, the actress, was threatened by a stalker,
she made sure the entire studio audience for her
show ''The Nanny'' consisted of hand-picked laughers and
applauders. Ms. Nixon had that as a
standing job for two years.
As if her funny bone were not already excitable, Ms. Nixon
takes cues from the assistant directors,
who wave their arms when they want an audience to laugh.
''They tell us to laugh, I laugh,'' she said, with a laugh.
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