Medtronic has been growing steadily. In 1990 it had fewer than 10,000 employees and by 4/30/97 employment had risen to 12,500 employees. The number might be larger were it not for Medtronic's use of temporary workers, what it calls "overload employees". While this practice is not unique, what is different is that Medtronic keeps its temporary workers on the payroll and allows them to become eligible for paid time off and holiday pay. "(This) is a clear effort to attract and maintain an overload work force that can move around the company and fill in for business units that are having an increase in workload." These employees would be the same as temporary employees from outside firms. However, they only work for Medtronic. Most of the people provide administrative services."