The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the status quo of hiring practices across the United States. Beyond the numerous inputs that led to the great recession, the fact is, the labor force is growing at a slower pace than we have seen in decades. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Congressional Budget Office forecasted a 4% labor force growth – compared to 9.2% in the 2000s.
In a jobseeker’s market, what a staffing agency offers is less important than the fact that some workers prefer the transient nature of contingent work. Staffing agencies can advise your business on where to look, what to offer, and how to engage job seekers for your specific job vacancies or ongoing hiring needs.
In this edition of nSider, Jimmy lannuzzi, Vice President and General Manager, and Arthur Ransier, Director of Business Strategy at nTech Workforce share their opinions and expertise on the advantages of working with a staffing agency:
Many believe that using a staffing agency can be costly. A survey by Monster notes that 70% of business owners believe hiring a staffing agency is too expensive. However, contrary to popular belief, a great staffing partner saves you money in the long run.
Ransier shares his views on cost savings associated with staffing agencies:
Staffing agencies can save companies a significant amount of money when there exists a high variance in hiring needs, such as for seasonal jobs, project-based work, or periods of rapid growth. In these cases, augmenting the existing recruitment process with a staffing agency ensures hiring demand is met, deadlines are met, and internal teams are stable.
Iannuzzi adds “After your staffing agency saves you money on your hiring process, they can continue to save you money on overhead costs associated with employment."
“There are hard costs in making a hire for your company,” says Jimmy. “Posting a job on LinkedIn, Indeed, and other job boards costs money.”
The process of drafting the perfect job description, reviewing resumes, interviewing, finding, and onboarding a new member to your team takes significant time and effort. According to a report by Glassdoor, the average interviewing process takes 22.9 days. The number of days to fill may vary by industry and role. For example, looking at tech roles, a customer service role takes an average of 1-2 weeks to fill. Whereas, the process of filling most high-paying tech jobs can take at least a month.
The time spent on these activities takes away from your core business operations and human resources functions. However, “…working with a staffing agency puts time back in your day,” says Jimmy.
When working with a staffing agency, you can count on them to bring you the best candidates forward, so that you can focus on reviewing the profiles of those that can help augment your team and company growth.
According to Iannuzi, a staffing agency can become your professional hiring manager:
At the end of the day, your company does not employ a professional hiring manager to source, recruit, and interview candidates for hire. All too often hiring is a shared responsibility consisting of human resources and/or talent acquisition in addition to the department hiring manager. A staffing agency is your professional hiring manager. [They] will source, recruit, shortlist candidates, coordinate interviews, and manage the offer and hiring processes.
Staffing agencies spend years cultivating their talent network through referrals, networking, and regular conversations with job seekers.
Ransier adds, “Staffing agencies have tremendous relationship capital and bring a substantial network to their clients, including pools of qualified workers for specific jobs.”
For example, if an employer is seeking resumes to fill a specific role in customer service a staffing agency that specializes in the subject would be able to deliver a list of qualified candidates in a short amount of time.
One of the advantages of working with a staffing agency is the ability to gain access to their data.
Staffing agencies bring a plethora of market data that can be a huge asset to business teams for writing job requirements, determining compensation, or even on the best strategy to engage talent in a specific niche.
Additionally, they “…dedicate more resources towards a single function and can provide insights into global, national, or regional staffing trends, best practices, and technologies that you may not otherwise consider,” Arthur adds.
Like power generation companies understand utilities and consumers, staffing agencies understand workforce planning and jobseekers. More specifically, like Constellation (formerly Exelon Generation) has expertise in nuclear & other clean energy, staffing companies may bring expertise in hiring software engineers, accounting, or customer care workers.
If you have never experienced the benefits of engaging a staffing firm to catalyze your hiring practices, now is a terrific time to evaluate this option.
Working with a staffing agency works best when we engage as partners with the same goal – hiring your next great contributor. The best staffing agencies exist to serve as your trusted advisors, recruiting gurus, and company ambassadors.
Clients that have the most success when working with a staffing company engage us with open and honest communication and treat us as part of the team.
With clear expectations of your company culture, vision, and talent needs, nTech Workforce can find your next MVP.