Temporary, Contract and Interim Recruitment

How fast can Brightwater supply a temp to a client?

We would generally require very little notice to provide temporary cover

Emma Anglim, Associate Director of Brightwater who is directly responsible for our Business Support division which covers office staff and customer service is usually in the office or on call from 7am every morning. Brightwater often get calls at 7.30 or 8am from employers to say their receptionist has called in sick and they need someone for 9am. Brightwater can generally provide temporary cover for our clients within an hour to an hour and a half.

Of course, it depends on the level of experience and skills needed but if it’s a role like a receptionist / administrator / front of house staff, we have an extensive bank of fully referenced staff available at short notice.  These individuals would have done significant amount of work for Brightwater clients in the past and we have received very positive feedback on them so they would be a reliable source of cover.

What types of companies would use temporary staff?

There’s no limit to the type of company that would require temporary staff across business support or office. We’ve seen requests in for temporary staff from every type of companies from small companies from 10 people or less to SMEs  to large multinationals.

With regards to sector demands for temporary or contract staff, Brightwater is seeing a huge demand across all types of sectors especially from legal and financial services. There is currently quite a large drive for temporary cover within public sector institutions but to be honest, the demand for temporary staff comes from every sector of industry.

How long would temporary roles last?

At Brightwater, we are often asked about the duration of temporary roles. Temporary roles can be from a half day’s duration to a day and sometimes up to permanency.

We do get calls from employers looking for staff to cover holidays, sick leave or simply to cover busy project workloads. Sometimes we get calls looking to hire temporary staff only for the day depending on requirements.  The standard would be anything from a day to a week and up to six months duration.

We’ve seen a huge volume demand to cover sick leave which can last anything from 1 to 2 days and up to a week at times. However temporary roles can be fluid and can last initially from 1 day with a view to longer term depending on the requirements.

Why would an employer need temporary staff?

There are a number of reasons why an employer would bring in temporary staff.

• Sick leave cover: Temporary staff are often used for sick leave cover, quite non defined in length of term – 1 to days with no definitive end.
• Busy projects: This could mean that the company is bringing in a new system where existing staff are moved to the specific project so employers need to bring in temporary staff to cover work needed to be done in the interim.
• Seasonal requirements: Depending on the time of year and industry (summer or winter), some periods may be busier than normal so employers would tend to bring in temporary staff to ensure that they have all their requirements covered.
• Maternity contracts: Bringing in temporary cover for maternity contracts is very commonplace and accounts for a lot of our contract roles. Temporary staff will be brought in on a temporary or contract basis.
• Alleviate workloads: For temporary staff, this usually means clearing a backlog of administrative work. This allows for managers / senior staff to focus on more strategic pieces but gets the day to day administrative work done in the background.

What type of temporary staff does Brightwater’s Business Support division provide?

Brightwater’s Business Support division recruits for a range of different office support and administrative roles across a wide variety of industries. Among the temporary and contract roles we recruit for would be general administration which would cover administrators, personal assistants, executive assistants up to office management level. We’re seeing quite a big demand in the legal sector for legal administrators, particularly legal PAs. The level and variety of temporary roles covered would be quite broad, going from data entry level to administration / reception right through to senior operations and operational management.

What are the advantages of temporary employees?

There are numerous reasons why employers want to hire temporary staff. One of the main reasons it can be seen as a trial run on both sides without any huge commitment. If an employer hires someone on a temporary basis, they can be pay-rolled through Brightwater. This means that if the person or role doesn’t work out, they can be finished up with immediate effect. There is no commitment from either candidate (temporary employee) or client (employer).  An employer can bring someone  in on temporary basis for a certain timeframe (a week or a month) to see if they’re the right fit for the company, if they have the right skillset and if they can add value to their bottom line whether the role is in an administrative, reception or PA capacity. It’s essentially a great trial run without any firm commitment.

Another reason why employers would hire staff on a temporary basis rather than permanent could be that they may have restrictions around headcount. There may be a role there but head office may not have given headcount sign off for a permanent hire. If the company takes on someone on a temporary basis that is payrolled through a third party, such as Brightwater, they will not appear on the company’s payroll which is a huge advantage.

How often do small businesses use temporary staff?

Many SMEs have approached us for temporary and contract staff. Hiring on this basis gives small to medium sized companies the flexibility and the ability to ramp up staffing numbers and add to their workforce without a firm commitment. They may not have the budget to bring in a permanent member of staff and this gives them the flexibility to do so. Employers can trial someone on a temporary (week to week) basis and see how it works out. Once they’ve gauged if the person filling the temporary role can add value or if they’re positively contributing to the company, then they have a business case to present to their board or their senior management. If they can prove that this person has achieved X, Y, Z which all benefits the company, then they may get approval to hire for the role on a permanent basis.

How long does the hiring process take?

The process is very smooth and seamless. From Brightwater’s perspective, our resources do tend to make the hiring process much smoother and faster. We have our own internal finance, administration and IT teams to help with the backend of the hiring process.

Once we have established the requirements of the temporary role with the employer and we’ve gone through all the compliance aspects such as the Agency Workers Directive and the Miscellaneous Act, then Brightwater can get things turned around very quickly.

Depending on the role and duration of contract / temporary requirement, getting someone started on a temporary basis can take 1-2 hours’ notice for a day’s duration or anything from 24-48 hours for a longer term requirement.

Brightwater’s Business Support division has an excellent candidate pool available, many of whom have done temporary work for us previously. Our consultants have met them face to face and we have 2 references on file for each and we know the quality of their work in similar industries / companies.