If you’re facing staffing shortages and need to hire new talent, there are a number of reasons why you might want to hire a contract or temporary worker instead of a full- or part-time worker. While it’s not a solution for every situation, here are some of the key benefits of hiring contract employees.
Allows you to adjust to workflow fluctuations quickly
If you’re facing employee absences due to illness, vacation, parental leave, sudden departure, disability or unexpected demands from special projects or peak periods, temporary help can quickly provide qualified staff so you don’t miss a beat.
For employee absences that are fairly common, like parental leave, you can start looking to fill that role for a set amount of time a few months in advance giving ample time to find the right contractor. While a sudden departure or a shortage due to a peak period can be alarming, staffing agencies specialising in contract workers can fill those roles quickly, sometimes within just a few days. Either way, contract workers allow your business to keep on functioning smoothly until you either have no need for the position or decide to create a permanent role.
Offers staffing flexibility
There’s no doubt that the popularity of flexible work arrangements continues to be top of mind for today’s workforce. Whether it’s completely remote or a hybrid work environment, workers will continue to seek out those arrangements.
However, this doesn’t work for every business. For instance, if you have a completely in-office work arrangement for full-time employees, allowing some people to work a remote schedule could cause friction among employees. Hiring contract workers for roles that truly can be remote and async can be a great way to attract top talent without disrupting your current business model.
Lets your business evaluate a worker without commitment
Hiring a full-time employee is a big commitment for both parties. Starting with a contract position can be a great way for employers to test a worker’s abilities and to experience the culture and work environment beforehand.
You could choose to employ a temp worker for a designated short-term position as a way to both get a project done while also testing their skills and abilities before signing them on full-time.
Similarly, the worker gets a chance to experience the culture of your business to ensure it’s a fit before committing to a long-term working relationship. In the end, both of these situations allow both the company and the employee to ensure that they know what they’re signing up for, therefore helping retention and hiring costs.
It can save time and money
The cost of hiring permanent employees can add up quickly, with onboarding and training costs, robust benefits packages, and even things like a relocation allowance. Contract workers allow businesses to hire and scale up as projects demand while being cost-efficient.
Hiring permanent employees can also take a lot of time, especially if you’re trying to fill a high-level or specialized position. A temporary worker can quickly step in to keep the work going while you search for the perfect candidate for a long-term employee.
Advantages of using a staffing agency to hire contract workers
There are many advantages of using a staffing agency like Swoon to source your contract workers for you. Since staffing agencies specialise in hiring, the time to hire is faster. Our process is polished, our pool of candidates is massive, and we know exactly what to look for based on your needs.
Secondly, you’ll simply get higher-quality candidates. We screen, interview, and check references on all candidates ahead of time, which means you will only meet with candidates who have already been carefully assessed and interviewed by Swoon.
Deep knowledge of specialties and niche roles is another advantage of working with a staffing agency to hire your contract workers. Since we’re trained to look for specific gaps in skill sets and drill down in interviews on industry knowledge, you’ll get the specialised candidates you need.
Similarly, you’ll get to leverage our market knowledge about the sectors we work in. Whether you want advice about salary rates, available skill sets, career development expectations, current hiring complexities, and even market trends, we’re able to help.
Finally, as a client, you don’t have to pay if a candidate isn’t hired. Most of the work a recruiter does happens before any potential compensation comes from our client. If no candidate is hired, no fees will be charged for work done. If a recruitment agency cannot assist your business successfully, there is nothing to pay.
This ensures our services, resources, and expertise focus on providing you with the best possible candidates to support your business growth plans – those whose dream job is working for you.
Questions? Ready to hire your next contract worker? We’d love to help!
