The gig economy relies on temporary workers rather than full-time employees to fill roles. These workers support full-time employees for a set time, then move on to other assignments.

Manufacturing and light industrial companies can benefit from the gig economy. Many use temporary staffing to fill the gaps in their workforce. 

The gig economy provides speed, specialization, and cost-effectiveness for manufacturing and light industrial employers to handle evolving business needs. These employers might require temporary workers for short- or long-term employee absences, projects, and seasonal demand. 

A blended workforce provides flexibility and diverse perspectives to drive success during change and growth. These factors contribute to the bottom line. 

How Temporary Staffing Can Fill Workforce Gaps

Temporary staffing supports your manufacturing or light industrial workforce with employee absences and short-term projects or during peak productivity. The benefits include:

  • On-demand workers: Quickly add skilled temporary workers to support changing business needs. Onboard faster to improve response times during critical periods.
  • Flexibility: Scale your workforce up or down based on market demands, project timelines, and seasonal fluctuations. Keep employees busy without feeling overwhelmed.
  • Agility: Quickly respond to market dynamics, regulatory changes, and unexpected disruptions. Explore new products or services and markets without a commitment. Foster a culture of innovation.
  • Adaptation: Temporary workers can quickly adapt to new work environments and begin producing.
  • Specialized skills: Find temporary workers with niche skills to handle additional projects.
  • Productivity: Maintain production and product quality.
  • Efficiency: Support efficient business operations for a stronger bottom line.
  • Problem-solving: Uncover fresh perspectives to resolve company issues and innovate.
  • Skill development: On-the-job training ensures your company has workers with updated skills for enhanced productivity.
  • Business growth: Ease employee burden during rapid growth and transformation. Help navigate during times of uncertainty. 
  • Try before you buy: Evaluate a temporary worker’s skills, impact, and cultural fit to determine whether to extend a full-time job offer. Avoid the cost of a bad hire with a trial period.
  • Reduced administrative activities: Avoid benefits administration, payroll, taxes, worker’s compensation, unemployment claims, and related issues.
  • Time savings: Receive vetted candidates ready to begin producing. 
  • Financial savings: Pay for only the services used. Request a replacement if not completely satisfied with performance.
  • Resource optimization:  Streamline the recruitment process, minimize time-to-hire rates, and contain costs. Free up time to focus on revenue-generating activities. 
  • Financial stability: Maintain a lean core team supplemented with temporary workers to optimize cost structures.  
  • Optimized workforce management: Balance flexibility with stability for workforce management.

Best Practices for Filling Workforce Gaps with Temporary Staffing

Filling your manufacturing or light industrial company’s workforce gaps with temporary staffing takes planning. The following best practices can guide your path:

Strategic workforce planning

Clearly define your manufacturing or light industrial company’s hiring needs. Include each role’s responsibilities, required skills, and timeline.    

Staffing agency collaboration

Partner with a staffing agency specializing in the manufacturing and light industrial sectors. The agency should have a proven track record of understanding each client’s unique culture and hiring needs, streamlining the hiring process, and finding the right fit.

Transparently communicate your short- and long-term staffing needs. Be as specific as possible to strengthen candidate matches, speed up interviews, and find the right temporary workers.  

Candidate evaluation

Conduct brief interviews to get to know the candidates. Include questions tailored to their work environment adaptability, technical skills, and job tasks. Consider each candidate’s answers to determine their ability to integrate into your manufacturing or light industrial team.

Onboarding process

Introduce temporary workers to your company’s culture, policies, and procedures. Also, provide the required tools and resources to integrate into your team. 

Begin training temporary workers so they can carry out their job duties and responsibilities. These activities enhance performance and efficiency. 

Goal setting 

Communicate specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) to each temporary worker. Understanding your expectations helps guide performance and reach objectives. 

Knowledge sharing

Ask each temporary worker to document their processes to share with your team. Knowledge transfer provides insights that benefit your manufacturing or light industrial organization. Encourage regular learning and information sharing among temporary workers and employees. These exchanges strengthen adaptation and knowledge sharing to elevate the return on investment (ROI) of temporary staffing. 

Communication

Maintain regular check-ins with each temporary worker. Discuss their progress, address questions and concerns, and provide constructive feedback. These activities support positive working relationships and alignment with company goals. Keep temporary workers informed about potential assignment changes. Maintaining communication helps align employer and worker expectations.

Performance evaluations

Regular performance evaluations let you recognize each temporary worker’s accomplishments and improve performance. You also can request feedback on assignments and the work environment to support a collaborative atmosphere. Plus, you can offer the best temporary workers full-time jobs if needed. 

Recognition and rewards

Acknowledge each temporary worker’s specific contributions, results, and organizational impact. Fostering a positive work culture motivates workers to perform their best. Incentivize temporary workers who exceed expectations. Providing a gift card, small bonus, or another reward elevates morale and attracts future talent. 

Tips to Manage Employees and Temporary Workers

A strategic approach is needed to manage a blended workforce of employees and temporary workers. The goal is to create an inclusive culture where employees and workers feel valued, respected, and appreciated. 

Openly communicate

Ongoing communication helps keep employees and temporary workers informed about their roles and team impact:

  • Clearly define each role’s job duties and responsibilities. 
  • Establish expectations for each employee and temporary worker.
  • Ensure each employee and worker understand their tasks, reporting structure, and sources of support.
  • Improve team efficiency, productivity, and performance.

Provide training

On-the-job training bridges skills gaps and enhances team performance. Providing growth opportunities motivates employees and temporary workers to remain engaged and productive. These factors support a positive work environment and culture.

Encourage collaboration

Use collaborative platforms and regular meetings to maintain alignment with project goals and timelines. These tools and activities support employees’ and temporary workers’ feelings of belonging and team cohesion.

Ready to Use Temporary Staffing to Fill Your Workforce Gaps?

The Ōnin Group can provide temporary manufacturing and light industrial workers with the skills you need for increased business growth and success. Contact us to discuss your staffing needs today.

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