The National Institute of Business and Industrial Chaplains, a group of pastors and lay people based in Houston, said that it has no figures on how many workplace chaplains there were two decades ago, but that there are perhaps 4,000 nationally now. Marketplace Ministries said it has recruited more than 150 this year alone, trying to keep up with demand. Rodgers said that since he started working at McLane Food Distributors near Fredericksburg in 1994, the number of people who use his services has risen steadily. You can't shake hands with a 1-800 number. Burleson added that although he has seen job performance improve after workers have been counseled over time by the chaplains, the real value often comes in giving immediate comfort to workers who might have heard bad news at work, or just before they arrived.
Chaplains often get referrals by word of mouth, but they also recruit companies.
Payment varies, depending on the number of hours. Employees who use the service say that though they may not always talk to the chaplains, it's important to know they can. At times, chaplains have even contacted pastors elsewhere to help an employee's extended family during a crisis. Vanessa Taylor, a chaplain who has worked with McLane for several years, said she has talked with employees who were contemplating suicide or facing overwhelming job-related stress. Scheduled meetings usually take place in a tidy office furnished with a leather sofa and chair, on the second floor of McLane's Falmouth warehouse.