Business support specialists

Problems temporary workers are great at solving

Jo Donelan

There are several different situations when you should consider hiring temporary workers for your organisation.

When You Need Someone Fast

Finding the right candidate for a role can take a while; that’s why many companies use recruitment or staffing agencies.

Can you afford to spend weeks, perhaps even longer, on finding the ‘perfect’ candidate for the role? It is in situations like this that we believe hiring a temporary worker can be the right option.

Recruitment companies who provide temporary staff deal with vacancies fast – sometimes within 24 hours – and this is something which in-house recruiters are simply unable to do.

Many companies like ourselves have a pool of temporary employees we have been working with for years who are ideal for your role.

When You Need Someone Who is Flexible

The flexibility of temporary employees is not just something that benefits them; it can help you too. All business have times of the year when the workload fluctuates, think when your business always feels the strain, is it over Christmas and the new year? Alternatively, do you often struggle in the summer when staff are on annual leave?

Taking on a temporary employee for these periods will alleviate some of the pressure from your other team members and spread the workload more evenly across the year.

Many businesses don’t take on extra staff over their busier periods and end up struggling, because they think it is just something that ‘other businesses do’, well yes, there’s a reason for that.

When You Need Someone to Help Your Business Grow

All businesses have the scope to grow, and it should be in your development plan to want to scale your business.

You will need more employees to deal with the extra workload at first. However, you can’t just hand out permanent contracts when you feel like it.

A temporary or temp-to-perm contract is perfect for times when you know you will need permanent staff eventually, but you don’t need them just yet.

To Cover Long-Term Sickness

Long term sickness can have a significant effect on smaller businesses and leaves all members of the team feeling the strain.

Do not underestimate the effect of having even just one member of staff off sick can cause in your organisation.

Even planned absences such as maternity leave, surgery and career breaks would cause upheaval in your business if you do not plan for them effectively. Do not assume that your other staff can handle the extra workload – this will only decrease their productivity and quality of work.

When Your Budget is Tight

Despite the recent changes in the law surrounding temporary workers, there are still fundamental differences between these types of employees and their permanent counterparts.

Temporary workers enjoy the benefits of being able to pick and chose when they work, and while this is less stable, many have chosen this type of work for a reason (family life, studies etc.).

When the Future is Uncertain

There is uncertainty in many businesses right now, and it is hard for many organisations to tell how many staff they will need in a year or even six months.

No employer wants to tell their workforce this, but sometimes you are unable to guarantee that your employee's jobs are safe indefinitely.

Temporary workers are beneficial for when there are uncertain times (like now!), and you are unable to predict the future of your organisation's needs.

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