Temporary workers: Do they really cost less? Do they onboard quicker? Are they the same quality as permanent workers? Read Red's view.

Gig workers including temporary workers in the UK are grabbing lots of headlines at the moment.

In contact centres, there are very few true temporary workers in the UK but there are large populations of temporary to permanent workers and this is an increasingly popular recruitment model.?‘Temp to perm’ as we in the industry fondly refer to these workers as, offers a flexible resource option for business which is particularly attractive in this uncertain climate. ?

Temporary workers offer flexibility, they can be ramped up or down quickly and without delay. Their quality is at least the same, if not better than permanent recruits (as many entry level workers prefer hourly pay rather than monthly pay) and they cost less to recruit with the recruitment cost being spread over time.? The cherry on the cake??Temporary workforces in contact centres are currently offering better retention rates than permanent working populations.

Temporary workers make an immediate impact on organisations. Many contact centres onboard them with a shorter training period. Perhaps train them in triage type roles, delivering fast productivity results before upskilling them for more complex service delivery further down the line once the heat is off!

Temporary workers allow businesses to increase headcount without commitment.?Often they are recruited during permanent recruitment freezes, sitting below radar of operating budgets and headcount figures as they are on the agency payroll rather than the company’s.

Temporary worker populations are growing in the UK with many operations building resource strategies with a weighting towards temporary rather than permanent workers. The quality of the resources is extremely good and they perform excellently against quality and efficiency targets and they beat their permanent counterparts when it comes to attendance results.?

In summary, Gig workers (a term that we are hearing more often when referring to temporary workers in the UK) are doing pretty well!?It seems we are in a place in the UK where speed and flexibility suits both the employer and the employee and consequently temporary to permanent workers and recruitment hit the brief.

For more information about how temporary workers could work for you, please contact the team at Red on 0117 3177700.