How To Cut Down Labour Costs Through Temporary Staffing
Cost control is essential for all companies. The competitive nature of our economic landscape and its rapidly evolving industries makes it more vital than ever for you to manage your labour expenses and maximise your bottom line.
One of the best ways to do this is through temporary staffing.
Partnering with an expert labour broker and temporary employment specialist can be an excellent way to save money on labour costs by outsourcing work that you would usually assign to employees who are not an essential part of your company.
Temporary staffing, in turn, provides various benefits, such as avoiding the costs of offering benefits to permanent employees or bringing on full-time workers when your company does not require their services for too long.
Alongside temporary staffing, there are further opportunities for your company to save on labour costs. This article breaks temporary staffing and discusses how you can cut down your labour costs through various outsourcing solutions.
Do you need a more immediate response to your labour needs? Navigate to MASA’s contact page to consult with the leading labour brokers and temporary staffing specialists in South Africa.
What is temporary staffing?
Across the globe, companies of all types are dealing with shifting market demands, not to mention the various staffing challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
When the economic climate is uncertain or your seasonal requirements change, you may not want to hire full-time labour permanently. Instead, a flexible, on-demand workforce that can provide specific skills and expertise on a short-term basis may be more beneficial to your business.
This point is where temporary staffing comes in handy.
Temporary staffing is when an employment agency recruits individuals to work for client companies on a temporary contract, usually no longer than three months.
The outsourcing agency will continue to pay the worker under a contract to provide temporary help to another company.
Leveraging Temporary Staff
In today’s world, a company’s workforce must adapt to the times. Most businesses can no longer rely on full-time employees to stick around for decades at a time.
Temporary staff is essential to remain competitive and productive in your respective industry or niche. Taking the time to make informed staffing decisions will set up your business for success through any challenges which may arise in the future.
The temporary staffing firm you choose to partner with should be able to offer your company flexible staffing options that allow you to decrease the number of employees on salary when their labour is not required.
By taking advantage of a temporary staffing firm, you can ensure your company gets the max out of its labour budget.
Every project, season and operation will require a unique and dynamic labour plan. Choosing the right agency to fill all of your staffing needs will take a load off your shoulders and help you find the best and most cost-effective temporary labour solutions.
An overview of cost savings
Temporary employees are unique because they offer a range of cost-saving benefits to businesses that traditional employees can’t match.
They allow companies to:
- Adapt staffing levels to suit seasonal demands;
- Hire specialists on a short-term basis to cope with an increased workload;
- Avoid the costs of offering benefits to part-time employees;
- Cut the costs of bringing on full-time workers when your company does not require their services.
Through economies of scale, an outsourced service provider can run a more cost-effective operation than most companies’ in-house processes by using expert staffing providers, administrators, HR & IR practitioners.
At, MASA we absorb the following payroll-related costs for our clients such as:
- Staffing required for HR, accountancy, bookkeeping, payroll and processing
- Software, licensing and maintenance of technology-based systems
- Operational costs encompassing everything from phone lines to payslips, rent and bank charges
We will also absorb various daily operational costs, including:
- Staffing required for operations management, recruitment, site management and drivers
- Vehicle instalment, repairs, fuel and maintenance
- Criminal checks, PPE issue and return, timesheet administration and printing
You can check out our full article on How To Save Money by Outsourcing Your Payroll
The MASA team will also handle everything from employee induction, training and onboarding, on-site management to ensure we carry out all of your operational tasks in a timely and professional manner.
Cost-savings through risk mitigation
Managing risk is one of the most crucial elements to securing cost savings and the overall viability of a staffing operation. MASA protects clients from a variety of risks through:
- Insurance and liability cover
- Theft and stock loss prevention and cover
- Health and safety training and resources
- Grievance and dispute resolution procedures
By partnering with a reliable labour broker, you can safeguard your business from legal risks and any preventable issues which may arise during the temporary employment journey.
Maximising your solution
Your temporary staffing solution functions as a powerful vehicle for expanding your workforce and saving costs during critical moments; however, there is more value that you as an employer can bring to the table.
So, here are some actionable tips you can use to prepare your company for outsourcing and capitalise fully on your relationship with a temporary employment agency:
Take a Closer Look at Your Labour Costs
It’s critical to plan ahead and determine which areas of the business incur the most expenses, limiting their growth as much as possible.
Actionable steps:
- Identify your top 3 to 5 labour-intensive suppliers, departments or employees.
- Break down each of their costs into categories such as payroll administration, equipment, material and necessary staff
- Analyse these costs and identify areas that can be streamlined or outsourced to help you cut back on unnecessary expenses
Operate with Fewer Resources and Smaller Budgets
When costs rise, it’s natural for businesses to look for cuts in labour and total benefit spending. In fact, many companies are implementing strategies to decrease medical plan expenses by offering low-cost, high-deductive plans.
Actionable steps:
- Go over your company’s health care plan with a fresh set of eyes
- Compare its offerings to those of competitors and industry standards. You may be surprised by what you find
- Inform your temporary staffing partner of your findings and see if they can help you save money by providing a more cost-effective health care plan
Gain better visibility into payroll costs
“Know your adversary.” It’s essential to understand the source of the problem in order to find a solution. You can see trends and patterns better once you have access to the big picture.
Start by asking questions like:
- Are we overspending on labour?
- Are we underutilising our workforce?
- Are we properly managing overtime?
If your overtime costs have been unusually high lately, having correct payroll information will aid you in determining the cause.
When you have a good grasp on employee compensation and benefits expenditures, you can prepare for better wage increases and extra workers as your business expands.
Wages are rising – use more efficient methods
Once you’ve got a good grasp on your current labour expenses and trends, you’ll probably want to find ways of reducing them immediately.
Here are a few suggestions for increasing overall efficiency and making a positive impact on the bottom line:
- Implement a time and attendance system to ensure that people are clocking in correctly, reducing the chance of theft, and doing overtime correctly.
- Find a single HR, payroll, and timekeeping solution to enhance efficiency and guarantee correct and complete labour data.
- Reduce administrative overhead and free up time for more valuable tasks, allowing you to ensure that personnel expenses are worthwhile.
By digging deeper into your companies’ needs and requirements, you can meet your temporary employment partner halfway with insider insights that will help maximise your staffing solution.
Even taking the time to discuss these suggestions with your team will bring out helpful information that you can use to reduce your expenditure and improve your business operations over time.
Make the call, cut the costs
All employers are looking for ways to cut down on labour expenses. It isn’t an easy task, but when you’ve got the right partner in your corner, it doesn’t have to be a challenge either.
Having temporary employees in place can make your business more efficient, save you time and money, and help you hire effectively during times of increased staff demand.
If you are looking for expert temporary staffing services, contact MASA today. Our team of seasoned recruiting professionals is ready to connect you with high-quality temporary employees that can deliver results.
Visit our webpage or blog for more information on the benefits of temporary staffing and the services we provide.
