How Employers Can Attract Hourly Workers in the Growing Gig Economy Labor Market
The allure of the gig economy — or the wide variety of jobs that hire workers on a freelance, contract, on-demand, or temporary basis — is captivating for employees. In fact, the allure of the gig economy is so strong that it accounts for 34% of the U.S. workforce.
Yet it’s creating a tricky problem for employers like you: you’re losing great talent. Employees are gravitating towards the flexibility of temporary work instead of towards your organization.
Here are three ways you can provide the best of both worlds — the flexibility of the gig economy yet the predictability of traditional employment — to attract, and keep, great employees.
Flexible Schedules
While you can’t always offer schedules that are entirely up to the discretion of employees, you can offer a bit of flexibility. What are their preferences? If their preferences change, how well can you accommodate their changing needs and/or changing life circumstances? For example, if an employee suddenly needs to care for their elderly parents at the time they usually work, offer that employee an easy schedule change that comes at no disadvantage to their life or bank account. They’ll feel less stress, be a better worker, and stay at your organization longer.
Using a gig-like hiring practice can provide flexibility to both, the employees and your business.
Paid or Unpaid Time-Off
We all know what it feels like to need some time off of work but can’t take it. In fact, because the American work culture is a bit workaholic in nature, traditional employees are even afraid to take earned time off. Each U.S. worker, on average, fails to use about five paid vacation days per year. This is one more reason American workers are attracted to the gig economy: they’re able to take time off of work without fear of penalty. The ability to take paid or unpaid time-off, to avoid burnout and stress-induced illnesses, not only improves employee wellness, but it increases your organization’s ability to stand out from the crowd and attract and retain workers who prefer gig-styled work.
Timely Access to Earned Wages
One crucial reason employees look for gig jobs is to meet their near-term financial needs between paychecks. Many of the gigs pay immediately on completion of tasks instead of having to wait for weekly or biweekly pay periods. For example, your Uber’s, your Lyft’s, etc. Employees can wake up, work all day — or for even half of the day if they want to — and cash out their earnings to their bank account at the end of the day. Sounds great, right? Not having to wait two weeks for your paycheck can be a game-changer for most employees in avoiding predatory loans and fees between paychecks.
PayActiv solves this problem for employers with timely access to earned wages. You can offer it as a voluntary benefit to your employees and provide them the best of both worlds, security of a stable job with the financial flexibility of instant access to earned wages.
With PayActiv, employees can instantly access 50% of their earned wages up to $500 per pay period along with an entire array of financial wellness services to make their financial lives easier to manage, improving employee wellness and retention.
Take one step closer to being an organization that attracts the best employee, even those who are attracted to the flexibility and instant gratification of the gig economy. Learn more about PayActiv Holistic Financial Wellness for your employees.
https://www.payactiv.com/blog/how-employers-can-attract-hourly-workers-in-gig-economy-labor-market/
