In the last ten years, 2.4 million industrial jobs went unfilled in the US. The cost to the economy? $2.5 trillion. Additionally, seven in ten companies fell behind in production because of all these unfilled jobs. Those numbers may or may not surprise you.
As managers and leaders in the manufacturing industry, you understand the weight of these concerns because you are in the same boat – not necessarily sinking but tottering. You can’t seem to find enough workers for your warehouse or distribution center, despite your HR team’s best efforts. However, out of the many ideas your team has employed to keep your team full steam ahead, have you considered a contingent workforce?
Initially, you may think the cost of an outside source to find contractors isn’t worth the investment, but there are several factors that, when you add them up together, can save your company both time and money.
Quick & Speedy Hiring
Broadly speaking, a contingent workforce is normally made up of contractors and outsourced employees who desire flexible schedules and are hired for a set time period to work on a specific project or contract. And speed is the name of the game in hiring them, which is why an outside source can be an important part of the solution.
The benefit of working with an organization like a staffing agency is that recruiters have a pipeline of candidates ready to go, contacts who are specifically looking for opportunities in your industry.
Additionally, agencies have a well-established process for hiring and onboarding to support the contingent staff as needed through their contract or until they become full-time employees. They can take care of the details like application submissions, resume reviews, scheduling needs, referrals, and anything else that adds up over time. The best agencies are proactive about streamlining steps that might otherwise delay your hiring process.
Decreased Cost & Enhanced Revenue
Every day you leave a job open, you are leaving money on the table. Every day your team is not functioning at full capacity, you run the risk of late production and delivery, missing deadlines, and disappointing consumers. And every hour your HR team works on recruiting is an hour they cannot spend with your current staff to support their needs and support retention efforts.
Furthermore, take into consideration the marketing cost of posting your jobs. For example:
- Monster Cost: $279 for a single job for 30 days and 50 resume views. If you have 10-15 jobs to post per week and look at 20-30 resumes per position, these numbers add up quickly.
- Facebook: You can boost your job post for any amount. However, the more you pay, the higher the distribution of your job post (so unless you invest money, your jobs will likely not be seen).
- ZipRecruiter Cost: Plans start at $299 per month or you can post a single job for $99.
Three small examples of the many job-board-related expenses today. To gain traction and views, most companies post on several websites, but as you can see, those costs add up.
And even when you find a traditional, full-time worker, you have additional costs: medical benefits, paid-time-off, holidays, trainings, etc.
For instance, the average cost of employee benefits per employee equals $11.82 per hour, in addition to their average salary and wage in the manufacturing industry which is $14.04 per hour. Taken together, the average total compensation is $25.86 per hour. If you have a team of 60+ workers who work 40 hours a week… you get the picture.
However, an agency provides a different solution. Here at Total Staffing Solutions, we can reduce your marketing spend on advertising and benefit costs and save your company thousands of dollars through our contingent workforce. And not only can we save your business money, we will diligently work to expand your connections in the job market.
Increase Connections with Candidates
According to ASA, around three million temporary and contract employees work for America’s staffing companies during an average week. During the course of a year, America’s staffing companies hire 16 million temporary and contract employees.
Staffing agencies have a bigger pool to work from, which means their connections with today’s candidates, whether passive or active, are often greater than your in-house reach. And with constant referrals and participation in job fairs, their network will always be growing. By joining forces, your brand awareness with job seekers and opportunities to find the right workers will increase. The best contractors won’t be around for long, but recruiters’ focus can connect you with those individuals before they go elsewhere.
Allows for Flexibility and Creative Approaches
Innovation – that’s a key part of engineering and manufacturing. But in order to do so, one often has to try new ideas and programs to find these new innovative solutions.
For instance, you can start by hiring a small contract team for three to six months. If their new, specific roles increase production and decrease mistakes, great! If not, you know what direction to avoid, and better yet, you haven’t hired full-time staff to do a job that’s not sustainable for your company. A contingent workforce affords you the chance to create and redesign roles.
From a decrease in cost to an increase in speed and flexibility, contingent workforce solutions can help you break new ground for your business. Your company is the expert in your products and services. Your staffing agency is the expert in finding qualified staff. Find the right partner, and your business will find hires in record time. So instead of falling behind in hiring and production, you could soon have a fully staffed team helping you sail to new horizons.