So you’ve started using on-demand labor and found a worker you are particularly impressed by. You might be asking yourself if it’s okay to hire this person, or if it will cost you anything to do so.
At Veryable, companies often ask us if they can hire workers from our on-demand labor platform. We do not forbid hiring or charge fees to businesses who want to hire workers they find through the Veryable platform. However, we do have some words of caution to businesses who have hiring as their goal when using on-demand labor solutions.
It is in the interest of our customers and anyone considering on-demand labor to share why our solution isn’t intended to be used that way. In this article, you’ll learn whether or not you can hire workers from on-demand labor platforms, and some cautionary advice to consider before making this a goal when using the solution.
It depends on the platform. Maybe you’ve heard of on-demand staffing solutions, which are a tech-enabled version of staffing. These solutions are different from on-demand labor, and their model borrows some habits from the traditional staffing approach they’re founded on.
Some on-demand staffing companies don’t allow you to hire workers, and others charge conversion fees just like regular staffing companies. If you’re using Veryable’s on-demand labor platform, you can make job offers to workers outside of the platform without fees or any interference from us.
The goal of on-demand labor is to enable flexibility for businesses and workers by allowing them to match their headcount to demand just in time and scale back down instantly if they need to.
If a business implements on-demand labor as if it’s a staffing solution for finding full-time employees, you won’t get the full benefits of on-demand labor. We’ll explain why in the next section.
We aren’t saying you should never hire anyone you find using an on-demand labor solution. We just have to warn you that it’s better to build your flexible labor pool using on-demand labor and handle your full-time staffing needs through another solution.
When you get into on-demand labor thinking you’ll mostly be using it to find more full-time workers, it’s like using a fork to eat soup.
Most of the benefits that come from on-demand labor come when your business builds a labor pool to help you match your labor capacity to demand in real time. This method allows your business to pay workers only when there’s enough work for them to do.
Staffing your company to accommodate your average demand results in overstaffing and the problems that come with it for long stretches throughout the year.
Instead, you should be using on-demand labor to find workers only when you need them so that you are reaching better labor utilization rates. Hiring workers from on-demand labor is usually a step away from this goal, and a continuation of the habits that sent you looking for a labor sourcing solution in the first place.
Another thing to consider is the mindset of workers using on-demand labor before you consider offering them a job. Most workers finding opportunities through on-demand labor platforms are looking for work to do on their own unique schedule.
Among workers using Veryable, about half of them work on demand only eight days out of the month. The other half work full-time hours at opportunities they find using Veryable, but they work at multiple businesses or work for a month or two and then take time off.
Most workers using on-demand labor platforms are looking for flexibility they can’t find through a full-time job. You can definitely offer them a job, but don’t be surprised if they aren’t interested or if they leverage their other options to drive a hard bargain. After all, they’re working as independent contractors and don’t need to stick to any one company. Even if you successfully hired them, you’d be paying them full-time when there might not always be work for them to do.
If you’re having trouble meeting fluctuating demand, ramping up and back down for your busy season, or relying on overtime to keep up with the work, you should consider on-demand labor.
If you don’t face any of the challenges above and need full-time employees only, you should consider staffing.
Read our in-depth comparison between traditional staffing and on-demand labor to learn more about how these solutions are different so you can choose the right one.
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