Firms saving money with IT temps
March 17, 2009 by Sam NarisiPosted in: IT staffing, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views
Staffing levels in IT departments are dropping, but companies are turning to a different hiring strategy:
So-called “temp-to-perm” hiring — i.e., hiring temps that could someday become permanent staffers.
At the end of 2008, 38% of companies said they plan on cutting IT staff in the near future, according to a survey by staffing services provider Veritude. That number rose sharply from the 4% who gave the same answer earlier in the year.
At the same time, 56% said they planned to hire temp-to-perm IT staff. That’s compared to 27% earlier in 2008.
The reason: At most companies, IT budgets have dropped, but workloads haven’t. That’s driven more companies to rely on contract and temporary workers, Veritude says. And they make good candidates for full-time hires once business picks up.
Do you hire temps in IT or other departments? Did you before the economy went downhill? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
View all the Latest StoriesTags: contract workers, IT staff, temps
March 24th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Using temps or temp to perm is a great strategy for maintaining your “core” staff during a downturn. Temps can have a “commodity” skill set, and be tasked with day-to-day operations, while your “keepers” are FTEs that have company-specific knowledge or skills, work on projects, oversee day-to-day operations, and interface with the business.
I think every IT organization should have a few temps that can be shed in the event of a staff reduction.
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:19 am
We’ve seen a great influx of contract spend in Charlotte and believe this trend will continue throughout 2009, not just here but certainly across the South. By engaging a contractor, the risk on the client side is greatly reduced by placing more of a burden on firms such as ours. It also allows them to be more nimble in their hiring decisions and increases the speed of on-boarding.
The contract and contract-to-hire process is nothing new to IT professionals as companies have been utilizing them for years; specifically the Fortune 500. The trepidation people have felt in the past about contracting seems to have subsided for the most part given the current state of the economy.
It is a beneficial staffing strategy for companies of almost any size that will transcend our current economic situation.
April 4th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
More and more, our client’s recruiting, staff augmentation and retention needs are being compromised by downturns in the economy. Further complicating matters are our client’s own internal hiring processes, which can slow down the ability to hire skilled full-time IT professionals.
TrueBridge Resources works in generating customized contract staffing options, which in turn, allow our clients to meet their growing workloads and demands. It keeps their staffing costs flexible rather than fixed. Such contract staffing approaches also allow our clients to evaluate a contractor’s on-the-job performance before extending a permanent position.