The Benefits of Hiring Seasonal Employees

Many businesses experience slow seasons where they conduct less business, sell fewer products, or take on fewer clients. Because of these slow seasons, maintaining a full workforce can be challenging—but hiring seasonal employees can help.

Having seasonal employees can help resolve budgetary concerns during slow seasons and ensure your business has enough support during the busier times. This article will take a closer look at some of the benefits seasonal employees can offer!

What is Seasonal Work?

Seasonal work is temporary employment that, depending on the industry, typically recurs around the same time each year. For example, there are select Halloween stores that only open for the fall and require temporary employment for that store location annually. Similarly, a snow plowing company has no clients to service in the summer. But during the winter, business picks up, and they need extra hands on deck to service those clients.

Why are Candidates Interested in Seasonal Employment?

Seasonal work is common among teenagers and college students. Younger people can gain experience and extra pocket cash simultaneously. But there are many reasons a person might be interested in seasonal employment, including:

Someone changing careers may obtain a seasonal job while looking for a role in a new industry.
Teachers often take on work during the summer months while school is out of session.
Mothers may take on seasonal, part-time hours as kids grow or during specific times of the year.

These groups of people pursue these jobs because they can:

Improve their resumes and professional skills
Reduce employment gaps
Experiment within different industries
Supplement extra income
Get their foot in the door and pave the way to full-time work

Industries that typically hire seasonal workers

Seasonal jobs vary from industry to industry and may include tour guides, summer counselors, lifeguards, retail sales associates, or customer service representatives. Before diving into the benefits, consider some industries utilizing seasonal workers today.

1. Hospitality

Tourism and hospitality encompass many jobs, varying from working on a cruise ship to running a hotel. In any case, when there’s fluctuation in tourism, it often requires companies to add more employees and customer service roles.

For example, restaurants in beachside towns typically hire extra staff during the summer to handle the influx of people that may visit. Similarly, ski or winter resorts may hire extra help during peak season. That includes seasonal wait staff, instructors, maintenance workers, or other positions.

2. Accounting

Another industry that offers potential for seasonal work is accounting. Tax season brings in a lot of business and revenue for seasonal tax accountants, clerks, coordinators, bookkeepers, and tax preparers.

Companies may hire seasonal employees because tax season is only once a year. But accountants can also freelance and attract a larger clientele during tax season.

3. Construction

Construction work is an industry that offers seasonal employment, depending on the location. Workers in parts of the country that experience cold, harsh winters may not work during that time, or they may obtain seasonal snowplowing work. Companies may hire more employees than usual, depending on construction damage that occurred during the winter.

These employers can utilize seasonal employees to ensure they stay on schedule with new projects throughout the peak construction season. Additionally, gardeners, landscapers, and other outdoor companies often hire temporary workers.

4. Retail

Retail is one of the most common industries that utilize seasonal workers. For example, many stores hire temporary employees in the fall to ensure they have enough staff to manage the holiday season.

Like restaurants in beachside towns or ski resorts, stores in these areas will hire additional retail employees to work during peak seasons to manage the high volume of potential customers.

What are the benefits of hiring a seasonal employee?

Along with ensuring you have enough support to manage your business during peak seasons, here are four additional benefits of hiring a seasonal employee for your business.

1. Cost reductions and fewer risks

The first significant benefit of hiring seasonal employees is that it’s cost-effective. Additionally, hiring seasonal employees reduces the risk of spending time, money, and resources on a temporary employee who may not be the best fit for a company. This can significantly reduce financial costs and other workplace risks.

2. Fill employment gaps

Seasonal employees also help fill employment gaps within your business. Many companies will utilize seasonal employees to fill staffing shortages or there’s a gap due to vacations, maternity leave, or production cycles. Hiring seasonal employees can help your business continue getting the work done while searching for the right long-term candidate. Other times, seasonal employees can help when there’s an influx of business and extra support is required.

3. Access to a wider talent pool

Depending on what you’re looking for, offering flexible and seasonal work opens your talent pool to parents, teachers, students, and young professionals seeking experiences. These individuals may have unique life experiences that can benefit your company in ways others may not initially realize.

4. Manage long-term hiring needs

Seasonal employment also works well for small businesses. Whether your company is expanding or you want to source more talent, sourcing seasonal workers can help you manage your long-term hiring needs. You may even find a temporary or seasonal employee is a perfect fit and consider offering a full-time, long-term position.

Consider Seasonal Employees Today

You can experience the benefits of hiring seasonal employees today. You’ll rest easy knowing you’ll have extra help for a busy season without breaking the budget or taking excessive risks.