Q&A - Why do businesses employ temporary workers?

Whether hired on fixed-term contracts or not, temporary employees are particularly useful if the business has seasonal peaks and troughs in workload.  Temporary workers also enable a business to fill short-term gaps, for example caused by illness or maternity leave.

Temporary employees are often not directly employed by the business they work for. A common arrangement is for the “temp” to be employed by an employment agency (“temping agency”) that then bills the business for whom the service is being provided.

The main upsides and downsides of using “temps” can be summarised as follows:

Business legislation - the cost to businesses [5 Mar 2012]
Unemployment and motivation [28 Dec 2011]
Optimism and expansion in consumer leisure markets [2 Dec 2011]
A CEO’s take on the effect of the recession on UK restaurants [18 Feb 2010]
Government support for apprenticeships [6 Feb 2010]
Introducing business and the economic environment with Darling’s debt dilemma [27 Jan 2010]
Revision Quiz - Unemployment [13 Jan 2010]
Breakfast for $1 tests price elasticity of demand [12 Dec 2009]
Flexibility: Does it work? [3 Nov 2009]
Q&A - How are businesses affected by unemployment? [27 Oct 2009]
Q&A - What are the main causes of unemployment? [27 Oct 2009]
Q&A - What has happened to unemployment in the UK? [27 Oct 2009]
Q&A - Explain what unemployment is and how it is measured [27 Oct 2009]
The lights go out for the nightclub market [26 Sep 2009]
Picking from a growing pool of job hunters [19 Aug 2009]
Q&A - Outline the main costs and benefits of inflation [1 Jul 2009]
A stunning example of how wage costs can differ for the same job [10 Jun 2009]
Q&A - What is a sales forecast? [31 May 2009]
Q&A - How do changes in commodity prices affect businesses? [1 May 2009]
Q&A - What are the main legal areas that a start-up business needs to consider? [1 May 2009]
Q&A - Explain “time-rate” pay [1 May 2009]
Q&A - What factors should a business consider when deciding what to pay employees? [1 May 2009]
Q&A - Explain the main issues with part-time employees [1 May 2009]
Q&A - What are full-time employees? [1 May 2009]
More flak for the banks from business customers - what have they done with bail-out cash? [18 Feb 2009]
Flexible employment at Mini - the upside and the downside [16 Feb 2009]
AIG ends Manchester United sponsorship deal [23 Jan 2009]
Highest Productivity in the Industry - But Still Crippled by the Crunch [8 Jan 2009]
Bracing ourselves for a series of retail business failures? [21 Dec 2008]
Business cutbacks and job losses [26 Nov 2008]
Flexible working - evidence of a significant change in the UK workforce [9 Sep 2008]
Government support for small business - cutting red tape [25 Aug 2008]
Wanna job? Get down to McDonalds [18 Aug 2008]
Cash is king for small businesses in the downturn [1 Aug 2008]
Who should a start-up employ? Simple - the kids [21 Jun 2008]
Porkie Pies Don’t Cut It in the Real Job Market [15 Jun 2008]
New rights for temporary staff [20 May 2008]
Tesco creates waves in seaside holiday town [25 Mar 2008]

BUSINESS TEACHER RESOURCE NEWSLETTER
Get first news of business teaching resources, ideas and other materials from tutor2u. Over 9,400 business teachers from the UK and around the world receive our regular teacher email newsletters. Sign up for free here!