This is part one of our “Seasonal Hiring” blog series. Part two discusses the importance of recruiting during the third quarter to outperform your competition in the fourth quarter.
Accounting firms often need extra help during tax season. Most retailers need more staff during the holidays, as do call centers and packing and shipping services. UPS announced its plan to hire at least 90,000 temporary and part-time employees for the 2015 holiday season. Tourism-related businesses are another classic example of companies that need extra help as their seasonal business changes. And there are myriad other businesses whose staffing needs fluctuate throughout the year.
If your industry is one where seasonal ebb and flow in business creates a need for varying staff levels throughout the year, then turning to a staffing company can be the perfect solution. There are numerous benefits to using a staffing company rather than hiring employees only to have to lay them off when business slows. Continue reading to learn about the associated benefits.
1. Eliminate liability
You can reduce any unemployment liability, because staff is generally employed by the staffing company, rather than your company directly. In other words, the staffing company pays for unemployment insurance (though of course those costs are going to be passed on to their clients in the form of higher contract costs).
2. Reduce administrative costs
An even bigger potential savings, though, comes in the form of reduced administrative costs. You pay the staffing company a single fee, and they take care of things like social security, payroll, benefits and any other tax and legal costs that come with seasonal employees. While the direct costs are, of course, rolled into the staffing company’s fees, many of the indirect administrative costs are saved (such as employees to handle those tasks).
While the costs associated with seasonal staffing can be greatly reduced by hiring through a staffing firm, there are other non-monetary benefits that can be of even more use to many companies.
3. Avoid hiring mistakes
A staffing company can make it easier to avoid hiring mistakes due to being rushed to meet demand. Simply send the staffing firm the requirements for your ideal candidate and they’ll match it up with someone on their roster of available employees. And if someone doesn’t work out, the staffing company can immediately replace them, without having to go through the entire hiring process all over again. Some staffing companies will even replace an employee at no cost to the client.
This also saves your human resources department valuable time, as they don’t need to spend countless hours sifting through resumes and interviewing candidates who won’t be hired.
You can also better ensure that you hire the best possible candidates, because in many cases the staffing company will have already done all the screening for you. Most of these employees will have already successfully completed assignments for other companies, and have a proven track record.
4. Instill fresh perspectives
One often overlooked benefit is that a constant influx of new temporary workers can breathe new life into your company. When encouraged to do so, they can offer new ideas and innovative solutions. In too many cases, temporary employees are not considered as valuable as permanent staff, yet in a lot of ways they can provide just as much value, if not more.
Partnering with a staffing company to meet your business’ temporary, seasonal employment needs has a myriad of benefits, and few drawbacks in most cases. Any company involved in a seasonal industry would be wise to explore this option.
