Why Employers Should Try to Retain Summer Staff

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By Lisa Hutchinson

Topics: Hiring

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Why_Employers_Should_Try_to_Retain_Summer_Staff_Returning_to_SchoolThe end of the summer has arrived, and with it, many employers see a mass exodus of temporary staff. Whether you hired university students or high school students, most of them have headed back to school in the fall. Some of your other staff members may even go back to school as they hope to upgrade their skills.

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This contributes to making the fall the busiest hiring season in Canada. You’ll suddenly have several roles open up. While you may have had some temporary roles for the summer, you may also find several continuing positions are now vacant.

One of the best things you can do as an employer is to try to keep at least some of your summer staff on into the busy fall season. Here’s why.


Some Students Want to Stay

You may be under the impression all your summer employees are happy to leave at the end of the season, but this isn’t necessarily true. After all, many people would rather be employed.

Some students won’t be able to stay on with you for a number of reasons. Some of them may have moved to another city or even another province to attend school. Others know they need to focus entirely on their studies, and having a job will interfere with their grades.

For others, however, having a job throughout the school year is not just manageable but desirable. They’d rather be earning an income if possible.

If you see you’re going to have a number of roles open up, you might want to extend some of your temporary employment contracts.


How It Helps You

It’s easy to see how keeping a part time job into the fall and beyond helps students. How does it help you, the employer?

The first thing it does is reduce turnover. You get to keep at least a couple of people on staff, which means you don’t need to pay out the costs associated with replacing them. It also means continuity for your business, as well as stable productivity.

Retaining summer staff also helps you reduce the amount of hiring and training you need to do. In turn, you have more experienced people on staff, ready to work as demand for your product or service increases.


Accommodating Students

The biggest challenge in retaining summer employees is successfully accommodating them. Many students leave because they don’t believe they can balance their school work with the demands of a job, even if it is part time.

This is also true if your summer employees were working temporary or full time positions. They may not believe you have an open role available for them.

Take a look at the positions you need to fill. Is there one that could be made part time? Talk to the students who are staying on payroll with you and work with them to devise a schedule that works for them. There are many ways you can accommodate your summer staff, so they can work at your business permanently.


Need to Hire?

Even if some of your summer staff members have stayed with you, you may still need to hire. You can get a helping hand by working with Liberty Staffing to find the best people for your business.


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Lisa Hutchinson

I started with Liberty Staffing in 2004 as the Regional Business Manager of the London office. I have over 20 years of experience in the customer service and retail sectors, as well as leadership experience including Store Management, People Development and Recruiting. In 2016, our London location moved to a larger office in order to accommodate growth of our business, which included adding a Clerical Division.

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