Temporary Employment and Staffing Services

The City of Tucson is soliciting proposals from qualified vendors to provide Temporary Employment and Staffing Services to support the operational needs of various City departments. Services may include, but are not limited to, the placement of temporary personnel for short-term, project-based, seasonal, or as-needed assignments, in accordance with the Scope of Work.

This solicitation includes distinct service categories, including General Staffing, Information Technology (IT) Staffing, and Finance and Business Services Staffing, each identified as separate groups. Offerors may submit proposals for all service groups or for one or more specific groups, based on their qualifications and capacity. Offerors are also encouraged to propose additional service groups for use by participating agencies of the Axia Cooperative purchasing program.

To ensure adequate coverage and flexibility, the City intends to award contracts to multiple vendors as a result of this solicitation. Using departments may request services from any awarded vendor, at their discretion, based on availability and departmental needs. Services will be provided on an as-needed basis, and the City makes no guarantee regarding the volume, duration, or frequency of services to be requested under any resulting contract.

Background

NATIONAL CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS

Axia Coop LLC (“Axia Cooperative” or “Axia”) is a national public sector cooperative purchasing organization. Axia works with respected leaders from the public procurement community to offer a growing portfolio of master agreements that leverage national volume to deliver savings, efficiency, and innovation for non-federal public sector agencies.  Each agreement is publicly solicited by a lead agency utilizing the strictest of procurement standards.  The resulting awards address the dynamic needs of today’s evolving market while providing both value and cutting-edge solutions. For more information about the contracting process, please visit axiacoop.org/contracting-process.

The City of Tucson has entered into an agreement with Axia Cooperative to facilitate the Request For Proposals (RFP) and act as the primary contracting authority for the term of the resulting contract(s).  Resulting contract(s) is/are made available to other public agencies nationally for “piggybacking” through the Axia Cooperative purchasing program and authorized by various joint powers authority statutes, rules and regulations within each state and local jurisdiction.

While Axia Cooperative makes no guarantees as to exact quantities and/or purchase volume made by Participating Agencies, the estimated annual volume for purchases made nationwide through this contract category is $25,000,000. Please see Attachment J for more information regarding the Axia Cooperative purchasing program.

Project Details

• Reference ID: 260222
• Department: Human Resources
• Department Head: Suzette Yaezenko (Director)

Important Dates

• Questions Due: 2026-05-01T15:00:00.000Z
• Pre-Proposal Meeting: 2026-04-28T16:00:00.000Z — Microsoft Teams meeting Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/277898516976220?p=Qv9x1iIb8AYnrCpRjd Meeting ID: 277 898 516 976 220 Passcode: w8Fj3Ba9 Dial in by phone: +1 213-293-2303,,200456744# United States, Los Angeles Phone conference ID: 200 456 744#

Evaluation Criteria

• Procurement Evaluation Phase (1 pts) —
  1. The City will utilize a phased evaluation process to ensure an efficient and effective review of proposals. Each Step is an option to the City, at its sole discretion, in order to advance Offerors into the following step and/or Phase 2. 
  2. The City reserves the right to review and advance only a manageable number of the most competitive Offerors, as determined by the City's sole discretion, for Phase 2 evaluation. 
  3. The evaluation process may include:
     1. Phase 1, Step 1: Qualifications Review by Procurement Contract Officer (Pass/Fail)
     2. Phase 1, Step 2: Price Reasonableness Screening by Procurement Contract Officer (Pass/Fail)
     3. Phase 2: Full Evaluation of Proposals by Evaluation Committee
  4. Phase 1, Step 1: Qualifications Review by Procurement Contract Officer (Pass/Fail)
     1. Offerors shall complete Questions 4.6 through 4.14, located in the "Vendor Questionnaire" portion of the solicitation, designated as the Qualifications Questionnaire. 
        1. Responses shall be limited to the information requested per question. The City will evaluate responses on a pass/fail basis according to the preferred qualifications listed within the Scope of Work. 
        2. Offerors who pass at least five out of the seven questions will advance to the next step and/or phase. 
           
           1. Failure to pass at least five out of the seven questions will result in the proposal being deemed non-responsive and will not proceed further. 
        3. Failure to complete Questions 4.6 through 4.14 WILL result in the proposal being deemed incomplete and non-responsive, and will not proceed further for evaluation. 
  5. Phase 1, Step 2: Price Reasonableness Screening (Pass/Fail) 
     1. Following the evaluation of mandatory qualifications, the City may conduct a price analysis to assess the reasonableness and competitiveness of proposed pricing. 
     2. In the event the City decides to conduct a Price Reasonableness Screening, it shall be conducted as follows:
        1. For evaluation purposes, the City will calculate a standardized pricing metric based on the Offeror's proposed markup percentages, defined as the average of all submitted markup rates. 
        2. The City reserves the right to eliminate the highest Price Proposals to reach a manageable number of the most competitive Offerors for Phase 2 evaluation. 
• Qualifications and Experience (40 pts) —
  1. Provide details regarding your organization, including years in operation, organization structure, and experience providing temporary employment and staffing services. 
  2. Provide details in your experience providing services of similar scope, size, and complexity, including experience staffing general clerical and administrative, information technology (IT), and finance and business services positions/assignments. 
  3. Describe in detail your experience working within public sector, governmental, or similarity regulated environments, including familiarity with applicable rules, regulations, and compliance requirements. 
  4. Provide details on your firm's local or regional presence and ability to support the City's departments within the Tucson metropolitan area. 
  5. Describe in detail your account management structure for the City of Tucson. 
     1. Identify all key personnel who will be responsible for managing the City's account and provide resumes for each. 
  6. Demonstrate the qualifications and relevant experience of all key personnel and the overall management program responsible for administering and/or working with City of Tucson Risk Management regarding commercial driving licensed (CDL) temporary employees and temporary assignment positions, including those assigned to operate City commercial vehicles.
     1. The response shall clearly identify Contractor personnel responsible for maintaining driver qualification files, verifying and tracking valid certification cards, and administering or coordinating required drug and alcohol testing programs.
     2. Experience with applicable federal, state, and local transportation safety and compliance requirements should be clearly described. 
  7. Describe in detail your capacity to support the Scope of Work, including staffing levels, candidate pools, technology, and overall operational resources and success.
     1. Provide details how you can manage staffing services across multiple departments, job classifications, and simultaneous assignments within a single organization.  
  8. Provide details on staffing expertise and resources that will meet the City's needs across all staffing groups for all City departments. 
  9. Provide 3 references from current or past clients in which you have provided identical or similar services described herein.  For each reference, provide the following:
     1. Name
     2. Title
     3. Organization
     4. Address
     5. Contact information including phone number and email address
     6. Contract size/scope
  10. Demonstrate your company’s ability to meet the evolving needs of public sector customers of varying sizes and locations.
  11. How many sellers are dedicated to selling and supporting temporary employment services to the state, local & education (SLED) government market?
  12. Detail your national service network.
  13. Provide details on your firm's primary business services, specifically addressing whether temporary employment and staffing services are a core service offering or an ancillary/secondary service.
      1. Include a description of the overall business model and service focus. 
  14. Provide details on your experience providing temporary staffing services to public sector organizations within the past five (5) years.
      1. Include at least two (2) examples of organizations with a minimum of five hundred (500) employees and/or at least ten (10) departments or divisions.
      2. For each example, include the organization name, size, scope of services, and duration of engagement. 
  15. Provide details on your experience providing temporary staffing services, including the total number of years actively engaged in delivering these services.
  16. For each group for which you submit an offer, provide details on the number of temporary employees placed within the past twelve (12) months.
      1. Include specific placement numbers and a brief description of the types of roles filled. 
  17. Provide any additional information that may help clarify your responses to the above statements or distinguish your company from other respondents.
• Method of Approach (40 pts) —
  1. Provide details describing recruitment, advertising, screening, and selection processes that will be used to ensure the availability of qualified temporary personnel across all proposed staffing groups.
  2. Provide a full and complete catalog of all proposed positions, clearly identifying each job title and the corresponding hourly rate.
     1. NOTE: The requested catalogs are for informational purposes only.  The City and the Contractor must agree upon an hourly wage rate for each individual temporary employee that is utilized.   
  3. Describe in detail any retention strategies or incentive programs utilized to promote workforce continuity, assignment completion, and candidate availability. 
  4. Describe in detail your ability to conduct background investigations, including typical turnaround times. 
     1. Identify the types of background checks performed and describe the information included in the resulting reports. 
  5. Describe in detail your proposed approach for managing commercial driving licensed (CDL) temporary employees and temporary assignment positions, including those who may operate City commercial vehicles. The response shall address processes for establishing and maintaining driver qualification files, verifying commercial driving credentials and certification cards, and identifying the entity responsible for conducting random drug and alcohol testing when required.
     1. The methodology should also describe oversight, compliance monitoring, documentation controls, and coordination with City staff to ensure continuous adherence to all applicable safety and regulatory requirements. 
  6. Provide details demonstrating compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws and employment practices, including but not limited to the Affordable Care Act, Equal Employment Opportunity requirements, Fair Labor Standards Act, and any other applicable regulations. 
  7. Describe in detail your ability and process to provide all reports required under the Scope of Work accurately and on the required schedule, without prompting or notification from the City. 
     1. Submit a sample report in the required Excel format. 
     2. Describe in detail how reports will be generated, reviewed, and submitted. 
     3. Demonstrate in detail your understanding that failure to meet reporting requirements may and can result in the City declining to enter into a contract and/or terminating such contract after award. 
  8. Describe internal quality assurance measures used to monitor service delivery, candidate performance, and responsiveness to City needs. 
     1. Including the utilization of Attachment C to this solicitation. 
  9. Provide details on any platforms or systems that you use to manage candidate sourcing, onboarding, timekeeping, reporting, and communication with City departments.
  10. Who are your national/corporate points of contact for sales, marketing, contract administration and monthly sales reporting?
  11. Demonstrate your commitment to leverage the Axia Cooperative purchasing program to make the resulting contract available to public agencies across the country. Include details about your firm’s ability to:
      

      1. Market the agreement to public agencies nationally

      2. Educate your firm’s sales staff about the cooperative purchasing program

      3. Connect your sellers with the Axia team to pursue joint selling efforts

      4. Connect with customer decision makers

      5. Track sales and report back to Axia Cooperative

  12. What specific steps will your company take to train and equip their account managers to sell the cooperative contract / program on a national basis?

  13. Will you establish national sales goals for public agency adoption of the cooperative agreement?

  14. What tools will you utilize to track opportunities and hold sellers accountable?

  15. Describe all methods of accepting orders (online, apps, phone, email, in-person, etc.).

  16. Describe your available invoicing processes.

  17. Describe your customer issue resolution process. Include details of various problems that may arise, such as invoicing disputes and receipt of incorrect damaged items. Also detail customer service escalation procedures.

  18. Describe performance measures for success of your proposed staffing programs.

  19. Detail any value-added services and programs that may complement the comprehensive temporary employment and staffing services offering. Such offerings may include (but are not necessarily limited to):

      1. Online service management capabilities, including (but not necessarily limited to):

         1. Availability of mobile websites and/or mobile apps
         2. Online order tracking and order history
         3. Availability of contract pricing through the proposed online system
         4. Ability to accept pCards, etc.
         5. Ability to manage and restrict access to the proposed online system
         6. Detail of security protocols to ensure customer data is safe, such as data storage and data transfer techniques
      2. Small business partnership programs, such as local fulfillment and/or service partners
      3. Training & Education
      4. Consulting services
      5. Green / Sustainable programs, such as recycling programs, company policies, product certifications, staff and/or company certifications, sustainable distribution practices, etc.
      6. Customer support services
      7. Rebate/incentive programs
      8. Other services
  20. Include details as to how these proposed value-added services/programs would be rolled out to the City of Tucson and other participating agencies through the Axia Cooperative purchasing program.
  21. Axia Cooperative Program Pricing Details
      1. If additional staffing categories are available for participating agencies of the Axia Cooperative purchasing program (beyond those requested by the City of Tucson in the Scope of Work), detail those here and provide a price proposal for those in a similar format to that requested in the Price Proposal section.
      2. Describe your pricing methodology for participating agencies of the Axia Cooperative purchasing program. Will pricing vary by geography, agency type, agency size, etc.?
      3. Detail how market conditions impact pricing and propose how you plan to account for such changes. Can pricing adjustments be audited and tracked with an index or other calculation?
      4. Describe any regional and/or individual custom pricing lists that may be available to participating agencies of the Axia Cooperative purchasing program. Detail how this kind of program can be extended to one or more participating public agencies, limitations based on the location, type and size of the participating agency, etc.
      5. Describe if and how volume discounts may be applied for certain orders.

  22. Complete and sign the Federal Funds Certification included in Attachment K, Exhibit C.

  23. Please review the Sample Axia Cooperative Administration Agreement in Attachment K, Exhibit D. Note any questions, concerns and/or proposed exceptions.

  24. If your business intends to conduct business in the State of New Jersey, download, complete and sign the forms found in the “Vendor Forms Required For All Proposal Submissions” at https://www.nj.gov/treasury/purchase/forms.shtml#eo134.

  25. Provide details on your capacity to support a minimum of fifty (50) temporary employee assignments across all clients.
      1. Include current staffing volume, operational capacity, and any supporting metrics demonstrating the ability to meet this requirement. 
  26. Provide any additional information that may help clarify your responses to the above questions or distinguish your company from other respondents.
• Price Proposal (20 pts) —
  1. Provide price proposal as requested in Attachment K - Price Page.
     1. Markup percentages shall be applied to the Contractor’s direct hourly wage rate for the temporary employee and fee must be inclusive of all costs, including but not limited to, direct and indirect costs for labor, overhead, materials, printing, travel and mileage, postage, etc.
  2. If Contractor utilizes a different markup for different categories of positions (e.g., entry level, senior level, principal level, executive level) and health insurance enrollment, Contractor shall identify what the categories are, whether the employee enrolled in Contractor's health insurance, and the associated markup % for each position and enrollment. 
  3. Offerors MUST complete ALL required pricing fields within Attachment K - Price Page. Failure to provide a markup percentage for each required line item WILL result in the proposal being deemed incomplete and non-responsive, and not considered for further evaluation. 
     1. If a Proposer intends to offer services for a line item with no markup, the Proposer shall enter “0” to reflect a zero percent markup. Entry of “0” will be interpreted as an intentional offer of no markup, whereas omission of a markup percentage will be deemed non-responsive.
     2. The City reserves the right to determine whether any omission, inconsistency, or error in pricing renders a proposal incomplete or non-responsive. 

Submission Requirements

• Discounts —

  As stated in the Instructions to Offerors. Discounts, the price(s) herein can be discounted by _______%, if payment is made within ______ days. These payment terms shall apply to all purchases and to all payment methods.

• Cooperative Purchasing Program —

  Cooperative Purchasing allows other public agencies to piggyback on the City of Tucson’s contracts. Will your firm provide Axia Cooperative, as the administrator of this national cooperative contract, an administrative fee in the form of a percentage of sales?

• Does your firm have a City of Tucson Business License?
• Please upload a copy of your business license.
• Forms to be Filled Out —

  Please ensure that all required information is included with your response.

  1. Response to Evaluation Criteria
  2. Pricing Proposal
  3. Offer and Acceptance Form
• Response to Evaluation Criteria (required) —

  Please upload your response to the Evaluation Criteria.

• Pricing Proposal (required) —

  Please upload your completed Attachment K - Price Page.

• Offer and Acceptance Form (required) —

  Please upload your signed Offer and Acceptance form.

• Does your response to this solicitation include a request to keep any portion confidential and withhold it from the public record? (required) —

  Please note: The City of Tucson is a public agency subject to public records laws. Therefore, all requests to withhold information from the public record must be accompanied by justification. Pricing will not be held confidential.

• Confidential Information (required) —

  If you answered yes, then you must use this field to identify the sections of your submittal that you are requesting be withheld from public record. 

  If sections are not identified as confidential in this field, your request to hold information confidential may not be accepted.

  Please note: The City of Tucson is a public agency subject to public records laws. Therefore, all requests to withhold information from the public record must be accompanied by justification. Pricing will not be held confidential.

• Is your firm submitting any exceptions for the City's consideration?  (required) —

  In accordance with Instructions to Offerors - Exceptions to Contract Provisions, any exceptions that an offeror wishes to submit for the City's consideration must be indicated here in order to be considered.

• Define the exceptions you are requesting. (required)
• Is your firm primarily engaged in providing temporary employment and staffing services as a core service offering, and not as an ancillary or secondary service? (required) —

  Your response must clearly demonstrate compliance with the preferred requirements, as stated in the Scope of Work. Provide further details in your proposal according to the Evaluation Criteria.

• In the past five (5) years, how many temporary staffing contracts has your firm had with public-sector clients? (required) —

  Your response must clearly demonstrate compliance with the preferred requirements, as stated in the Scope of Work. Provide further details in your proposal according to the Evaluation Criteria.

• Across all clients you serve, how many concurrent temporary employee assignments across multiple job classifications can your firm support? (required) —

  Your response must clearly demonstrate compliance with the preferred requirements, as stated in the Scope of Work. Provide further details in your proposal according to the Evaluation Criteria.

• Can your firm provide sixteen (16) business-hour (also known as two (2) business day) turnaround time for both placement and replacement of temporary employees? (required) —

  Your response must clearly demonstrate compliance with the preferred requirements, as stated in the Scope of Work. Provide further details in your proposal according to the Evaluation Criteria.

• How many years has your firm been actively providing temporary staffing services? (required) —

  Your response must clearly demonstrate compliance with the preferred requirements, as stated in the Scope of Work. Provide further details in your proposal according to the Evaluation Criteria.

• For each of the groups in which you are making an offer, within the past twelve (12) months, how many temporary employees has your firm placed? (required) —

  Your response must clearly demonstrate compliance with the preferred requirements, as stated in the Scope of Work. Provide further details in your proposal according to the Evaluation Criteria.

  GENERAL, CLERICAL, AND ADMINISTRATIVE GROUP 1 ONLY

• For each of the groups in which you are making an offer, within the past twelve (12) months, how many temporary employees has your firm placed? (required) —

  Your response must clearly demonstrate compliance with the preferred requirements, as stated in the Scope of Work. Provide further details in your proposal according to the Evaluation Criteria.

  INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY GROUP 2 ONLY

• For each of the groups in which you are making an offer, within the past twelve (12) months, how many temporary employees has your firm placed? (required) —

  Your response must clearly demonstrate compliance with the preferred requirements, as stated in the Scope of Work. Provide further details in your proposal according to the Evaluation Criteria.

  FINANCE/BUSINESS SERVICES GROUP 3 ONLY

• Within the past five (5) years, has your firm provided temporary staffing services for at least two (2) public sector organization with a minimum of five hundred (500) employees and/or at least ten (10) departments or divisions? (required) —

  Your response must clearly demonstrate compliance with the preferred requirements, as stated in the Scope of Work. Provide further details in your proposal according to the Evaluation Criteria.

• Living Wage (required) —

  Will Living Wage Requirements be a part of the resulting contract?

• Will the resultant contract have Federal Funding? (required)
• Special Terms and Conditions (required) —

  Please select the required language that should be included under Special Terms and Conditions for this project. Please select all that apply.

• Insurance Requirements (required) —

  Please select the additional insurance coverages required for this project. Please select all that apply.

• Initial Term of Contract (required) —

  What is the initial term of the contract?

  Please use the following format: one (1)

  Even if you selected auto renewal, you need to add the initial term, i.e. one (1)

• Renewal Options (required) —

  Will renewal options be given with this contract?

  If you selected Auto Renewal, select No.

• Renewal Term (required) —

  What is the renewal term of the contract?

  Please use the following format: four (4)

  If no extension options will be given or you selected automatic renewals, please enter "N/A".

• Pricing (required) —

  Will you build the pricing table in OpenGov Procurement?

• Separate Pricing Document (required) —

  If you will be requesting the pricing to be provided by the vendor outside of the OpenGov system, have you attached the required document to this solicitation?

• Attachments (required) —

  Do you have any attachments?