Hiring seasonal workers in a hyper-competitive, employee-first job market

Seasonal work has always been a welcome go-to for a number of audiences – university students home for short-term breaks, people with seasonal time off, retirees looking for short-term work and more. But, in a hyper-competitive, employee-driven job market, finding seasonal talent has become an increasing challenge for many employers. 

How, then, can your business staff short-term talent right now? Be more proactive in engaging target candidates and, as you do, encourage recruitment teams to think creatively and scientifically. Start here. 

Step 1: Understand what employees want – and how you can deliver or work around it 

According to an Australian Productivity Commission report, the growth of working from home has happened faster than any other labour market changes, mainly due to the confluence of suitable technology and the global pandemic. In 2019, around 8% of people worked from home; that grew to 40% in 2020 and 38% in 2021. The same research indicates that around 85% of those who worked from home during pandemic lockdowns would like to continue doing so, at least part of the time. However, based on 2016 census data, only 35% of workers had jobs that were suitable for hybrid work. The increasing desire of workers for remote work makes it more challenging to staff restaurants, hotels, retail stores, and other common seasonal employers since in-person work is required.

If you aren’t able to offer remote and/or flexible opportunities, think about ways to tout what you do offer. For example, because seasonal work is often shift-based, the opportunity to work multiple shifts and earn extra money in a hurry can make seasonal employment more appealing to some candidates.

It’s also important that your team revisit the value-add for seasonal workers. Industry-standard wages and minor perks such as employee discounts may elicit yawns from many candidates this year. To truly distinguish yourself from competitors and entice workers to apply and stay for the entire season, you’ll probably need to beef up the benefits. For example, the Victorian state government offers financial incentives for people to relocate for seasonal work, as well as funding employers to provide accommodation and transport for workers. Western Australia offers the ‘Paid Escape’ with around $2000 worth of incentives for people to take a working holiday doing seasonal work. 

And if you are able to offer these types of unique perks? Make sure you’re communicating with them, internally and externally. These benefits can truly tip the scales in your favour – don’t bury them in your job posts. 

Step 2: Meet job seekers where they are 

The art of recruiting seasonal teams is about developing messages that will generate the highest response rates among qualified candidates. The science involves testing the messages, and then presenting your opportunities in the right environment, to the right audience, at the right time – no assumptions made. 

To ensure you’re striking that balance, be sure your team is not over-indexing – or overlooking – any of the groups that comprise the target audience for seasonal employment:

• University, TAFE and graduate students, for example, are often home for weeks or even months during the holiday season.
• Similarly, stay-at-home parents may have a desire to earn additional money during this time of the year, or to ‘test drive’ working part-time in a low-commitment environment.
• Teachers, educators and those in the extended education environment – for example, bus drivers, school safety officers, administrators and support teams – may have the bandwidth for part-time or even full-time work during the holidays, while schools are on break.
• Previous seasonal workers may be a good candidate pool. Consider incentives, including higher wages, for returning workers. Not only will the learning curve be shorter; you’ll also build longer-term loyalty for seasonal roles and, potentially, full-time positions. Returning workers may also be a good source of referrals, provided they are properly incentivised.
• Retirees may also be a good candidate pool. Over 65% of workers plan to continue working post-retirement, even if only part-time. Your team should definitely pay attention to this group, as it may be the most neglected.

Consider targeted social media, pay-per-click, and/or search campaigns that directly engage these audiences. At the same time, enhance your employer brand angle by featuring images of employees from these different groups in your materials.

Step 3: Elevate your full-time team 

Finally, the holidays could be an optimal time to engage full-time employees and (potentially) expose them to other roles, skills or even leadership opportunities within your organisation, thereby strengthening your candidate pipeline. A full-time worker may be interested in earning overtime or accelerating their career path within the industry or within your business.

Giving a high-potential employee the opportunity to gain leadership skills– for example, by training or supervising seasonal workers – may go a long way to boosting morale and retention. At the same time, this approach can help your business to build or improve its internal funnel at a time when external hires are in short supply.

Together, these strategies can help your business get – and stay – ahead of the seasonal hiring curve, and help you have the right talent to keep you moving forward during these all-important periods.