What is temporary employment?

Temporary employment is a fixed-term arrangement where an employee is hired on an interim basis, sometimes via a staffing agency. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, around 2% of workers in the United States are in temporary employment. This figure has been slowly but steadily increasing.

Temporary employment can work well for seasonal industries, hospitality or certain customer-service positions where a company must respond rapidly to changing levels of demand. It’s also used in warehouses, construction and even for administrative roles as well as more specialized work, such as pharmacy staffing and teaching.

Taking on temporary employees may feel intimidating, especially if you’re working with an agency that will handle the hiring process for you. Getting out of themindset where you vet each candidate individually before they join your company may take some adjusting to. However, if you choose the right staffing agency, the benefits of having someone else do the bulk of the hiring can be significant.

Read more: Choosing In-House Recruitment vs. Agency Recruitment

The benefits of hiring temporary workers

Hiring temporary workers offers several potential benefits:

• Reduced hiring costs, if working through an agency:Rather than having to advertise positions and screen applicants yourself, which can be a time-consuming process, you can hire temp workers through an agency. Staffing agencies have large databases of temporary workers and are able to help companies find staff more efficiently.
• The ability to find staff quickly: Because staffing agencies already have a list of available staff, you can usually fill positions on relatively short notice. You can feel confident that candidates will already have the general skills required for the job and will already have background checks and references available.
• More flexible terms:Taking on a full-time employee is a commitment, and depending on the state you operate in, the rules for terminating employees can be complex. Temporary workers are on short contracts, so it’s less of an issue if things don’t work out.
• Fill short-term vacancies:If someone is going on an extended sabbatical or taking maternity leave, hiring a temporary worker to fill their position until they come back can be a good option. It reduces the need to have existing staff members work overtime and can improve morale and increase retention.
• Increased diversity:Small teams that rarely change can easily become set in their ways. Having temporary workers come through to fill some roles in your organization can expose your team to new outlooks and ways of doing things. This can be incredibly beneficial.

Many people who work for staffing agencies choose to do so because they like the flexibility of short-term contracts. They have substantial experience in the work they do, and if they’ve been on an agency’s books for a long time, it’s likely that they’re good at hitting the ground running.

Additionally, while most people think of factory or customer service workers when they hear about temporary work, those aren’t the only industries that use temporary contracts. By having connections with a temp agency, you can access a bank of flexible knowledge workers and experts in a variety of fields who are willing to take on short-term jobs.

Some of those workers may decide to apply to your company for a full-time position if they enjoy working there, and you’ll have more knowledge of their abilities and personality. It may be that the experience they gained from working in temporary roles in a variety of different companies makes them well suited to taking on a leadership role at your organization.

Read more: How to Choose a Headhunter Company: Picking an Agency

The downsides of hiring temporary workers

While temporary work can be a useful option for many businesses, it doesn’t suit every business. Some of the downsides of temporary work include:

• The need to train short-term staff: Even if the staff members who are joining your company already have some knowledge of the job, they’ll need to learn your procedures and processes. It can take time for them to get up to speed, and you’ll need to retrain new staff during every intake.
• Some additional expense:In cases where a temporary worker is hired through an agency, you should expect some additional expenses due to agency fees. If you know that you’ll need someone to fill a position for a long period of time, hiring them as a permanent employee may make financial sense.
• A strain on staff morale:Having rapid turnover can have a negative impact on staff morale. In jobs that require teamwork, having some stability in the workforce can help increase productivity. Temporary workers may feel discouraged if they see permanent employees have access to benefits or perks that they don’t get.
• The agency doesn’t know your business as well as you do:While staffing agencies are very good at what they do, they don’t know your organization as well as you do. Sometimes, they’ll recommend a temporary worker who isn’t a good fit and that you would have screened out yourself. However, good agencies are quick to rectify any issues with their staff, and because people are on short-term contracts, you aren’t stuck with a worker who isn’t a good fit.

Read more: Pros and Cons of Using a Temp Agency

Temporary work offers flexibility

For both employers and employees, temporary work offers flexibility. It’s a chance for both parties to try each other out to see whether they’re a good fit. Some organizations take advantage of this and advertise temp-to-permanent positions where there’s the option to turn a short-term contract into a long-term position if the candidate is a good fit.

Whatever industry you’re in, taking advantage of a temporary workforce can be a good decision, not only economically but also because of the diversity of personalities and expertise that it can add to your team.

Frequently asked questions about temporary workers

What are the benefits of employing temporary workers?

Hiring temporary workers offers flexibility and can reduce admin costs and other overheads associated with recruiting permanent workers. Using temporary employment can help businesses cope with seasonal demand or other short but predictable busy periods.

What does it cost to hire temporary workers?

In most cases, employers can expect to pay a premium to hire a temporary worker due to agency fees.