Companies have to seduce candidates for temporary jobs

With the booming job market there is a shortage of talented candidates for temporary jobs. Companies will have to seduce them with an attractive employer brand and exciting projects. “You´ll need to offer them something, they cannot find anywhere else.”

In the coming time companies that are looking for temporary candidates, will have to compete to acquire the best talent. With an economy that’s reaching a growth of 3,4 percent , unemployment is rapidly decreasing. This will result in a shortage of talent for temporary work, predicts Cesar Gautier and Oskar Jonsson, Division Managers with recruitment agency Page Personnel. Gautier adds: “The candidates that are best qualified for the positions, will usually also have the choice to get a permanent contract. As a company you´ll need to ´seduce´ temporary workers, by offering them something that they cannot get anywhere else.”

Retaining employees

Temporary employees are hired for many different reasons, and on all levels. Many companies, for example, hire flex workers when one of their permanent employees is on a leave. “It is a great way to retain your best people”, explains Gautier. “When an employee is on a parental leave, companies ask one of the younger talented staff members to take over his or her projects. It´s a good opportunity for them to grow into a new position within the organisation. But, of course, then companies need to look for somebody to take over the job of the younger staff member. In those cases temporary workers are a great solution.”

Regardless of the level of complexity of the temporary assignment, the consultants need to fit in the organisation from day one and have to be able to work autonomously. That’s why, according to the study by Page Personnel, 63 percent of the companies that look for temporary employees, want them to be self-reliant. Having strong interpersonal skills is for many positions even more important: 80 percent of the companies want somebody who is a good communicator.

Strong employer brand.

How to find a candidate that meets all those requirements in a job market where only 20 percent of the employees work in temporary jobs? “To convince good candidates, it is very important to have a strong employer brand”, explains Oskar Jonsson. “It makes a company much more attractive as a temporary employer. If talented candidates have the choice between a permanent contract with an unknown company, and a temporary job with a top employer brand, like Spotify, Klarna or King.com, they will probably choose the second option. Especially for employees who are starting their career, a temporary position with a company that is well known or has a good reputation, is a great way to build their CV.”

Interesting projects

But no matter how much they invest in employer branding, not all companies can be as sexy as in the music or gaming industry. In that case there is a second strategy to attract temporary consultants, says Cesar Gautier: “A good way for companies to be more appealing to temporary candidates, is offering them an interesting project. Recently I helped a client within the real estate industry to find a candidate, where he was hired to completely restructure the invoice system. That was a challenge he couldn´t refuse. It´s those kind of projects that attract people to temporary jobs. Of course, if your company has both a strong brand and an exciting project to offer, you´ll have the best chances of finding the most talented candidates.”