As reported by the Associated Press, approximately 17 million people currently work as temporary workers, contract workers, consultants, freelancers, seasonal workers, and interns. Research also shows that nearly 50 percent of all companies use some form of temporary employees. Why might this be a good option for your company?
Here are four ways hiring temporary employees can benefit your organization without significantly increasing labor costs:
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You can reduce overall staffing costs.
Hiring temporary workers is a cost-effective way to replace employees who go out on family, maternity or medical leave, take vacations or sabbaticals, or resign unexpectedly. You realize savings as you don’t have to pay healthcare, overtime, or other benefit expenses. You also save on training, as your staffing firm provides workers who already have the experience and skills you’re seeking.
- The presence of temporary employees keeps your regular workers fully productive, but not overwhelmed, as they would be if they had to double up workloads to compensate for openings.
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You can flex your headcount to match customer demands.
By staffing up and down using temporary employees, you can maintain optimal headcount levels all year round. For instance, you may want to bring in more people during your busy season, whether you sell gardening or lawn products and demand peaks in springtime or you’re an accounting firm that seeks an uptick during tax season.
- Adjusting the size of your workforce is easier because you don’t have to take the time to post openings, review resumes or conduct interviews. You can simply add or deduct staff as needed, without paying full-time salaries or making painful layoffs.
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You can benefit from specialized expertise and experience.
Temporary staffers bring in new skills, experience, and perspectives to their roles. This, in turn, can increase efficiency and streamline operations. If a new product or project requires skills outside your team’s wheelhouse, the right temp can provide this expertise and keep things on track.
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You can “try before you buy.”
Last but not least, utilizing temporary employees allows you to evaluate their performance over an extended period of time without committing to a permanent hire.
- This alleviates the urgency that comes with the need to fill a business-critical opening. Having a short-term employee in place during your recruitment period enables you to take the time you need to make the right permanent hire – whether it’s your temp or someone else.
If you’d like to further explore temporary or temp-to-hire staffing for your company, contact PrideStaff today. We specialize in both direct and short-term staffing in industries including administration, customer service, IT, finance, legal support, healthcare, and production and distribution. And, we have the staffing solution that’s just right for you!