What are the benefits of hiring temporary staff?

What an unpredictable year it has been! Let’s face it, business can be unpredictable as it is without throwing in a pandemic. And as for our friends living in Melbourne, I don’t think they saw it coming that they would spend a vast majority of 2020 in lockdown?

Unpredictability in business is something that we just have to get used to – and the businesses that find a way to adapt and change their business models, as well as their marketing plans and offerings, are the ones that will continue to thrive and survive. 

And many do this with the support of high-quality temporary staff who are able to come in and add value with minimal training or supervision – and at short notice.

Temporary jobs in Australia have been very popular throughout 2020, even providing employees who had been ‘stood down’ rather than made redundant the ability to still engage and contribute in the workplace.

Our prediction is that temporary roles will continue to be widespread in 2021 as they provide employers with greater flexibility when it comes to their workforce. They also provide employees with the opportunity to ‘try before they buy’ in roles that they would normally not consider but may need to as the market begins to recover and business confidence grows.

Temporary staff recruitment agencies work diligently to build talent pools of readily available candidates, looking for short or long term assignments that match their skill sets. Candidates are interviewed, tested, reference checked and verified just as they would be in a permanent recruitment process – if not more so as the agency becomes the official employer.

Staffing jobs in Australia are popular with local talent as well as with working holiday Visa travellers, who can commit up to 6 months in any one assignment at a time. People travelling are often very eager to earn money and do the right thing by their recruitment agents and host employers, so they earn money and great references for their next adventures!

In terms of cost, an hourly rate is negotiated between the agency and the client which includes the employees hourly pay rate, their superannuation, payroll tax, workers compensation, administration fees and margin, plus GST. The client can then budget to figure out how many hours they can afford each week for the employee to be on-site – another great benefit. The client receives a weekly invoice and the staffing agency takes care of payroll processing.

So if you haven’t utilised the services of a temporary staffing agency previously it might be time that you do and create a better opportunity for flexibility in 2021.