What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Temporary Employees?
What Is a Temporary Job Anyway?
Temp jobs are jobs that are intended to be performed for a short time period and require only a short-term commitment. This is compared with perm work, which is full-time employment with a long-term commitment. Temporary jobs are the most beneficial for people who are looking to be in a job for a short time. But there are also cons to temporary jobs, like an employee not feeling like they have benefits or job security. In the following blog post, you will learn more about the temporary world and whether hiring a temporary worker is a good idea for your business.
Advantages of Temporary Employees
Can Save Companies Money
Hiring temporary employees is overall more cost-efficient for businesses than hiring a permanent employee. Temporary employees are only working for a short term, which means these jobs cost less to fill than permanent jobs. For some positions, temp employees may also have a lower hourly rate than full-time. If a temp employee needs to leave for family, medical, or personal reasons, there are fewer consequences at hand for the business. Perm jobs require health insurance, vacation time, etc. You don't have to worry about this for temporary employment. With temp workers, employers don't need to deal with payroll or unemployment claims that come up since the temporary staffing agency deals with them. Working with a staffing agency can save companies a ton of money because of how easy temporary employees are to hire.
Can Save an Employee/Company Time
A permanent position comes with a big workload and tons of commitment to the job, so hiring a temp employee to help can put less stress on a perm employee. The company is able to hire a temporary employee in a short period of time as compared to a perm employee, which takes substantially longer and requires more preparation. If a company feels like the temp employee is unfit for the position, they can hire another one in a few weeks or less. Temp workers can also help a company dealing with employee shortages.
Temporary Work Can Allow for Better Resumes
No company likes seeing blank space on resumes. By taking a temporary position, you get more experience and can take on a harder job in the future. Companies like to see that the person they are thinking of hiring has experience and is looking for a perm job in the future. Companies are more skeptical when a candidate applying for a job has periods of unemployment on their resume. When consistent work history is shown, the hiring managers know you are a valuable candidate and are more likely to fit into a perm position later.
Temp Work Can Lead to Eventual Perm Work
Employers who want to fill a job for a short period of time may offer a temp job, but temp jobs may turn to perm sometimes. This is also known as temp to hire. It is a great way for temporary employees to get a foot in the door and be offered a full-time job, which may come with more benefits for them in the long term.
Allow for New Skills to Be Learned
By taking a temp job, temp employees are able to learn new skills and test out the waters before going all in. They get to see if the job is potentially what they want, and, if not, they have learned skills that can potentially be added to their resume and will be beneficial to a new job. By getting to know a profession to see if it's right for you, you can grow a relationship with other permanent employees or a manager. This allows you to be able to be referred for a job in the future.
Disadvantages of Temporary Employees
Reduced Benefits
Temporary workers can receive fewer benefits than a perm employee. They may lose out on job enrichment opportunities such as on-the-job training and benefits like health insurance or personal paid time off. Temp employees can receive lower pay or less training than perm employees in some jobs because they don't need as much skill. Businesses may not set goals for temp employees, offer performance reviews, or give them advice on how to earn new skills. Perm employees tend to get many more of these benefits, which can make some temp employees feel like they are being misused and like they are not part of the team.
Lack of Commitment
Because a temp worker receives less of the knowledge and benefits as compared with permanent employees, they feel less committed to that job and don't worry as much about their performance. Also, when you hire temporary staff, they may leave a job early because they don't feel like they have as much of a commitment to the company. Temporary workers can feel left out of a lot of important conversations and opportunities to work with other employees, which can lessen job satisfaction.
Lack of Teamwork
Since temp employees are only around for a short time period, they have less time to build teamwork skills. Perm employees may feel hesitant to work with a temp employee because they won't be there for as long. In some cases, a temp job that requires less collaboration can be better for a temp employee.
Can Cause Legal Issues
Companies that don't use staffing agencies can incorrectly hire temporary employees as independent contractors, which can cause legal issues. Companies have to make sure they give temporary employees all of the benefits that are legally required by the employment contract. Incorrect hiring practices risk lawsuits, where more and more temporary employees are suing companies for denial of benefits, access to stock options, and other compensation.
Can Cause Safety Concerns
Temporary workers may not be used to a specific work environment. This can cause more on-the-job accidents. Proper training is extremely important for a temporary job and for the temp worker.
Conclusion
Overall, hiring temporary employees is more of an advantage to a company than not hiring them. It is very important to consider hiring a temp employee because it allows companies to provide flexibility to their full-time employees, get ahead in their work, etc. It also saves them time and money. Temporary workers can be invested in learning new skills, and temporary jobs can have incredible benefits as well as be good for a resume. If you haven't considered hiring temporary employees before, look into if it could be right for you.
Article Author:
Bella Thomas
Career Blog Writer
Albany, NY