Beat the Holiday Rush with Temps

Given the current 7.8 unemployment rate, it should be a breeze finding seasonal workers to man the cash register, help with sales or other holiday projects that need assistance..

But it’s not. Employers are having trouble finding people to fill these jobs.

If you’re one of those employers sweating the need for seasonal workers, look no further-- supplying seasonal workers is a huge business for staffing firms. The Staffing Industry Analysts Buyer Survey respondents said a fifth of their contingent workers were hired for seasonal reasons.

Of course, some companies believe it will be cheaper to recruit with internal staff and cut the staffing suppliers out of the equation. But do companies really want to set up a process that they utilize once a year?  It only adds to their overhead, especially since an employee has to manage this annual process. It’s easier going to a staffing agency. 

Costs aside, for anybody who has shopped at Christmas time, it can be a harrowing experience to be waiting in long lines.  And that could mean lost sales. So, stop worrying about saving a buck and under-utilizing your temporary workers.  “Given the typical retail markup, it would take no more than one or two otherwise lost sales per hour to pay the entire cost of that extra salesperson,” says Jon Osborne, VP of Research and editorial. [link to blog]

John Challenger, chief executive of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the Chicago-based outplacement firm, said holiday hiring will gain this year over 2011, so the supply of seasonal workers may be a little tighter than last year, but dealing with this kind of problem is just what the agencies are for