The Great Recession has proven deeper and bleaker than Roy G. Krause ever imagined when he saw the employment scene start to sputter in 2007.

But now the president and chief executive officer of SFN Group -- formerly Spherion Corp., one of the nation's largest recruiting and staffing firms -- is seeing early signs of hope in the U.S. job market.

Demand for temporary workers is starting to pick up, he said, and that is typically the first step toward a rebound in permanent jobs.

On Feb. 3, the company, whose shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange, reported it narrowed its net loss to $6.3 million in 2009 from $118.5 million in 2008. Revenue plunged 22 percent in 2009 to $1.71 billion from $2.19 billion a year earlier.

``Demand is certainly better than 90 or 120 days ago,'' Krause said in an interview in his Fort Lauderdale office this week as the company unveiled its new name. ``The trends in January were very encouraging relative to the fourth quarter.''

The lower-skill jobs -- light-industrial and clerical work -- tend to show a pick-up in demand first, he said, but technology is also showing a pulse. ``In the fourth quarter, we did see a nice increase in technology,'' said Krause.

The company changed its name, using its ticker symbol SFN, in an effort to reflect its evolution over the past two years into a group of specialized businesses, including more of a focus on professional jobs.

``My goal has been to diversify the business more into professional services,'' said Krause, who became president in 2003, adding the CEO title in 2004. ``We were trying to move our business upscale.''

In that vein, the company announced Feb. 1 that it acquired Tatum LLC, an executive services firm in Atlanta that specializes in professional jobs, specifically the placement of chief financial officers.

The deal increased the professional services side of the business to about 50 percent of total revenue. The professional side typically provides higher-margin business than clerical and light-industrial staffing services that have been dominant in the past.

Tatum's field offices will remain independent, but its back-office operations will be merged into SFN's existing operations. ``We think the growth opportunities are better on the professional side,'' said Krause.

The number of temporary workers usually peaks at about 2 percent of the workforce, Krause said, but he sees reasons why they may comprise a larger share of the job market going forward. The driving factors for the trend come from both employers and employees.

Many professionals, especially aging baby boomers, are eager to keep working longer into maturity -- because of a desire to stay engaged, financial need or both.

The notion of working on a project for several months then moving on is appealing to many older people who want to come back to the work force, he said.

``Today more people want to work longer,'' he said. ``A lot of people want to come back into the job market'' after retiring.

Projects and temporary gigs also have become more attractive to many younger people, who are comfortable with the idea of changing jobs to keep things interesting, he said. That's a big shift from the past.

As a young man, Krause decided to quit a good job, but as he recalls, ``My father was convinced I must have been fired.'' In the new workplace, switching jobs and even careers is a normal part of life.

``The dynamics have really changed,'' he said. ``Many young people are pretty comfortable with working on a project basis.''

Krause sees other reasons why demand for temporary workers, including professionals, may be particularly strong as the economy recovers from the steep slide. Fresh memories of the painful ordeal of cutting jobs may make employers more leery than ever about hiring permanent workers.

``I think you're going to see people trying to use temporary workers and using technology to offset the loss of people. At his own company, for instance, all paychecks are handled electronically. ``We used to write 50,000 checks a week,'' he said.

The temp business would also get a boost, he figures, if some form of healthcare reform is implemented that includes a provision ensuring portability of benefits. If they knew they had options for insurance, ``people wouldn't be afraid'' to pursue temporary work, he said.