The post-COVID business landscape still feels vaguely uncertain, and as companies aim to bounce back, there are still many questions up in the air. Despite that, we’ve seen many leaders commit to increasing headcount over coming months. The fact is that to achieve organizational success and high performance in the face of uncertainty requires a fully-staffed workforce. We’ve found that hiring temporary workers is one of the optimal ways to do this. Here’s why.
#1: Increased Flexibility
Among all of the challenges the pandemic has presented to the business world, two are particularly worrisome: the possibility of a return to lockdown due to renewed spikes in virus transmission; and the potential for widespread economic recession as a result.
Both of these scenarios would impact a company’s workforce needs. As such, your ability to be flexible and scale up and down accordingly is essential.
Temporary workers in this post-COVID world are the answer to achieving this flexibility and scalability. They allow you to bring on employees with specific skills and expertise at a moment’s notice – and part ways easily when you no longer need those skills. With this approach, there are no lengthy onboarding or termination processes that breed inefficiencies and further expenses – which naturally segues into our next point:
#2: Greater Efficiency
Temporary workers are best sourced through a staffing partner – and the beauty of this partnership is that you can say goodbye to all the logistics of recruiting, screening, hiring, and onboarding. You know that wading through mountains of resumes is a huge time and energy commitment. So why not delegate it?
To add to that, since the job of a staffing agency is to source and screen candidates day in, day out, the speed with which they can present and place suitable temp workers is always going to be faster than you could achieve in-house.
Another great benefit of hiring temps post-COVID is the opportunity to test out an employee and their skills before making a long-term commitment. Temp-to-hire is a no-strings-attached scenario. If the business climate is more positive six months from now, and you decide you’d like to hire a temp on full-time, you’ll have effectively increased your FTE headcount in the most efficient way possible. On the other hand, if you decide to part ways due to continued economic uncertainty, you won’t have wasted any time (or money – see below!) in getting the extra help you needed during this time.
#3: Cost Savings
As mentioned, hiring temporary workers through a staffing agency is extremely efficient – but that’s not all. Temps are employed directly by the staffing firm, which means you can skip the accumulating costs of insurance benefits, workers’ comp, payroll taxes, and more.
In case that wasn’t enough, also consider the periphery cost savings. Your current payroll staff can focus on your FTEs, for example – no need to spread them thin or expand that team when you choose to increase your headcount with temps.
In the current post-COVID business climate, where uncertainty extends toward your bottom line, cost savings like these can be truly impactful.
#4: Deeper Talent Pool
The network of a staffing firm stretches far and wide, reaching 100s of people every week, well past the limitations you might run into with in-house recruiting. As such, they can provide you access to a much deeper talent pool, increasing the likelihood that you’ll find the right employee, versus the almost right employee.
Additionally, many of the candidates in this talent pool have been tried-and-tested in prior temporary positions. That means greater confidence in their value and potential for success with your business. This is a big deal right now – we all know that unemployment levels have skyrocketed, and this makes it harder to discern great candidates who’ve felt the sting of pandemic-related layoffs versus those who’ve been out of the workforce for longer than they may like to admit. Partnering up with a staffing firm that understands these challenges inside out is a great way to ensure your temporary workers are the cream of the crop.
The Benefits of Hiring Temps in a Post-COVID World
Don’t let an uncertain future hold you back from hiring the people you need to get the job done. Choosing to bring on temporary workers is a more valuable decision than ever before. As your company seeks to bounce back from the pandemic, the benefits of this approach are certain to set you up for continued success.
COVID-19 has thrown a wrench in your hiring plans – we get it. We’d love to connect you with great temporary workers to get you back on track.