Most companies prefer hiring temporary or contract workers to complete their projects or bring down their workload. To cater to this demand the number of temp agencies has been increasing across the world.
If you haven’t yet tried temp staffing, it is good to understand what you are getting into beforehand. Here are a few pros and cons of hiring temporary staff:
Pros
Temp Staffing Helps in Managing Workload Fluctuations
Temporary or unexpected work demands in the form of special projects or peak periods can be easily met through temporary staffing. Temp agencies can also help in filling in employee shortages due to illness, disability or maternity leave or sudden departure.
It Helps in Maintaining Staffing Flexibility
Including a mix of full-time and temporary employees is a great way to increase the efficiency of your workplace. Apart from helping you meet your business needs you, this will also help you in improving your productivity, enhancing your bottom line, and maximizing job security. This flexibility also helps in creating more and better opportunities, both for employers as well as employees.
It is Cost-Efficient
Hiring temporary workers is always more cost-efficient than hiring full-time employees. You don’t have to provide most of the benefits that you have to provide to your full-time workers. They are generally on the payroll of the temp agency that you hire and hence you don’t have to worry about the paper work. Also hiring contract workers is faster since the temp agency will already have a pool of such employees ready for you. If unsatisfied all that you have to do is asking the temp agency for a replacement.
Cons
Although not many, there are a few disadvantages of hiring temps.
It Makes Training a Recurring Activity
Each time you need to assign a new work assignment to your temp, you will have to provide some amount of training, regardless of how unskilled or skilled he or she is. This means you or one of your staff members will have to put in some amount of time and efforts on training these employees. Nevertheless, it may not matter if you are getting back the same temp the next time you need his or her services.
It May Lead to Morale Issues
Temps don’t receive the same benefits that their full-time co-workers get, despite putting in the same amount of efforts and providing the same quality of services. Moreover when your regular employees don’t treat them as their equals, it might start affecting their morale at some point of time, leading to a decrease in their productivity.
Most employers believe that temps are generally less reliable when compared to their permanent employees. However, this may not be true if you hire a reputed temp agency. Take your time to do some research, ask for references, and find out how long they have been in business. Determine your staffing requirements beforehand and find out if the temp agency is competent enough to fulfil them satisfactorily. Get details on the procedure they follow to screen and recruit their workers and see if it works with you.