The benefits of temporary workers

With the demand for flexible working on the rise, temporary roles can be a way to get the skilled workers you need into your organisation. They’re also a great talent pool for full time vacancies.

Flexible working is becoming more and more popular, with organisations often having a temporary component to their workforce.
 
New research from Randstad shows that 80% of Australian workers see temporary work as a stepping stone to a full time job and employment analyst Steve Shepherd said organisations could benefit from allowing workers to prove themselves in non-permanent roles.
 
“We see this constant challenge from the trade union movement who believe the only good job is a full time job. But flexible work is seen from a range of different perspectives. In Australia, it's really encouraging that people see it as a way to get full time work. They see it as a means of getting experience in these industries where things change and you need to upskill, the opportunity to be able to prove your worth to an organisation without them necessarily making a full time commitment to you.”

Shepherd said that for people like mothers returning to the workforce after maternity leave, young workers entering the workforce and older employees at a higher risk of unemployment, temporary work was a way to get a foot in the door.
 
“People might say, 'They're over 50, they're over the hill' but once they're there, working in a temporary capacity, any preconceived ideas they had about an older worker not necessarily fitting into their business have gone out the window.

“A lot of organisations now have a strong component of temporary workers in their business. Why wouldn't they be the first people you look at when you're hiring? I think it's part of the way of the future as well as we see more and more businesses looking for flexibility, they're going to be looking at how they match their workforce to the business needs and temporary workers become an important part of that.”
 
Do you look to your temporary workforce when filling a permanent role?




 
 

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