How to Attract and Manage Gig Workers as the Furlough Ends and Skill Shortages Increase

It’s been a tumultuous year for businesses in the UK and as the economy begins to recover other barriers are beginning to disrupt a potential buoyant time for many firms. These include the end of the furlough scheme, a huge shortage of skilled workers across multiple sectors, a highly competitive job market and on top of this Christmas is just round the corner.

As Government support comes to an end across the country thousand more workers are expected to become available as many firms will be unable to afford these permanent staff. A key economic strategy to help fill the huge skill gap is to entice as many of these workers to join the gig economy and quickly fill the huge shortages impacting so many sectors and supply chains across the UK.

Last week the UK job market hit a record 1 million vacancies with the vast majority of these being temporary or gig positions as certain sectors are struggling to recruit local talent due to the initial impact of the ‘pingdemic’, Brexit and the surge in demand for skilled workers due to the economic bounce back.

So how do businesses attract the best talent during this difficult period?

1) Firstly, businesses need to research the local market and understand what talent pool is potentially available and what the current salary brackets are for the skill set you are recruiting for. it is important to offer the right pay, potentially including bonuses and other perks to ensure your business stands out and you secure the best possible talent.

2) Depending on the positions you are recruiting for you can also look at potential untapped gig workers such as local universities and colleges. Liaising directly with them via the student union or the institute offices to make them aware your business has shifts available for their students may well see them promoting these opportunities for free to the entire campus.

3) Offering cost-effective but popular perks can make your business stand out and be more attractive to the local talent pool. Depending on your workforce this could be as simple as free pizza, drinks after work or access to a gym or other perks that are easy to implement.

4) Offer to pay your staff as soon as their shift finishes. TheJobApp offers a unique solution that allows businesses to pay staff immediately after their shifts making gig working a much more attractive proposition and opening up opportunities to more demographics with the reward of instant cash.

5) Try involving your current workforce by offering a referral bonus to any staff member who refers a successful candidate to a role. This solution has been proven to be most effective in an employee’s first month of employment so recruiting one new employee can lead to multiple hires if managed in the right way.

6) Use tech to make recruiting easier and simpler. TheJobApp, for example, allows businesses to easily find local shift workers who match their specific criteria and even has a star rating so you can quickly source the most reliable staff. The app also offers a fully automated service managing tax and NI deductions, payroll and customer services.

7) Use your network and social media to see if you can attract more talent. Engaging your network will give you a good idea of how other businesses are recruiting, and they may even be able to refer potential staff to you. Local social media groups are often a good source for finding talent that is either not actively looking or is unaware of local opportunities.

8) Try to plan in advance. This can often be easier said than done but if you have periods throughout the year that you are historically busy such as Christmas or Black Friday then start recruiting much earlier than in previous years to make sure you can fill these positions and meet demand.

For many organisations with huge requirements for gig/shift workers, it is certainly going to be a difficult few months to recruit and attract temporary workers Now is not the time to be complacent as it is likely to get worse before it gets better.

Gig workers are in huge demand but the numbers available are slowly increasing and is expected to continue to rise as furlough support comes to an end so now is the time to make sure your business stands out and is the most attractive employer in your area. Make sure you stay one step ahead of potential rival firms looking to recruit.