Don't Hire FTEs for Incremental Support Work, Use Flex Staff

For example, a recently announced company acquisition could mean having to package and ship hundreds of new laptops. Or a technology refresh project could require a significant amount of labor, whether it’s removing wireless access points from an office building or handling the reverse logistics for outdated videoconferencing gear. Even the best laid plans leave business leaders scrambling to ensure tasks get completed on time and with a high degree of quality.

With the onslaught of work comes a decision point: should I bolster my existing team with more full time employees? Or do I bring in temporary workers to ease the crunch? While it’s tempting and perhaps more straightforward to engage Recruiting to build a pipeline of full-time candidates, savvy managers have learned that hiring temporary workers offers many advantages.

Here are 3 reasons to hire temporary workers to handle incremental support work:

Reason #1 - Segmenting work will make your existing employees more engaged and productive.

Your full time team has a lot of knowledge about company processes, both formal and informal. Put that know-how to good use by assigning higher level tasks to your full team. Duties include technology selection, project planning and management, and financial analysis. Once you have a solid game plan, engage contingent workers to perform logical swaths of work, such as warehouse logistics, equipment decommissioning, and equipment staging. Put simply, play to your team’s strengths and leave repetitive and well-documented tasks to temporary workers to handle.

Reason #2 - Save money.

Comparing hourly rates of full-time and part-time employees is only one facet of the financial decision at-hand. You must also consider recruiting and onboarding costs, benefits costs, and employer taxes. Moreover, in the event that you must downsize your team, you must account for severance and other expenses. And what happens if you simply make a bad hire? With contingent labor, you only pay for exactly what you need when you need it with significantly fewer strings attached.

Reason #3 - Temporary workers are eager and willing to do a great job.

Many temporary workers have perfected the freelancing lifestyle. These “perma-lancers” know that by doing a great job for their customers and building a solid reputation, they will continue to get repeat work and referrals. These individuals will undoubtedly do everything it takes to ensure that you are a satisfied customer. Other temporary workers might just be doing gig work while they look for permanent work. These individuals will likely view your gig as an opportunity to impress and position themselves for a full time position should once become available in the future. As an employer, what better opportunity to vet potential future talent for your team!

In summary, leading technology companies have come to rely on contingent labor to handle incremental support work, both planned and unplanned. To learn more about how to take advantage of contingent workers for your business, visit our Companies page.

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