With apps like Uber, Doordash, Rover, and others becoming commonplace over the last few years, many workers have left the hourly job market behind in favor of working gig jobs. It’s no surprise, after all. The incentives they advertise seem nice: completely flexible schedules, independence, and tipped pay are all very enticing to job seekers. It may seem near impossible to beat these companies out when searching for hourly applicants, but there are certain advantages hourly workplaces have as opposed to gig jobs.
Here are five ways your business can beat out the gig economy and keep your staff.
1. Schedule Flexibility
It’s near impossible for brick-and-mortar businesses to offer the level of schedule flexibility that gig jobs offer. People can work as much or little as they want, at any time they want. Many hourly businesses require set schedules to handle customer volume. To compete, you’ll have to adapt to the changing workforce. Allowing employees to take time off more often and being flexible to changing schedules can create a healthy work environment that increases retention among employees. The more flexible you can be, the better. While this can mean massive change to systems and practices, it’s effective in drawing more employees to your business — and keeping them once they’re there.
2. Better and More Consistent Pay
One disadvantage that gig jobs have is that the pay isn’t consistent, whether it be day to day or week to week. Most other businesses have the advantage of providing consistent pay to hourly workers, which seems like a big leg up for hourly hiring; however, the consistency is only as good as the pay. Even though gig jobs may have inconsistent pay, the overall wages may be higher than other options, so your hourly rates must be competitive with the gig economy. When the wages are comparable, the consistency can entice more job seekers.
3. Healthy Work Environment
Another reason people like these gig jobs is because they know the environment. They operate out of their car or home. There are very few question marks around the work environment when people start a gig job, but that’s not the case when starting an hourly job. Each business is different, and even a candidate with experience in a given industry will be unsure about the environment and culture of any business they are potentially interested in. A healthy work environment is important to a business for myriad reasons, but the most important benefit in this case is employee retention. By creating a strong culture and happy work environment, new hires are more likely to stay longer and be more productive. This isn’t a change that is done overnight, but once implemented properly, you can ensure that your employees are less likely to leave their job for a gig.
4. Good Benefits
Benefits are almost entirely absent from many gig jobs. Whether it be healthcare or retirement, benefits are an important part when trying to attract and retain employees, even for the hourly workforce. Careerplug found that within the hospitality industry, 58% of employees say they would take additional benefits in place of higher pay. While it might seem like benefits are an obvious and critical advantage when compared to gig jobs, it’s much more of a balancing act than it seems. The benefits package must be enough to outweigh the incentives of gig jobs. Many job seekers, especially those who are young, are willing to forgo a benefits package in favor of the autonomy and flexibility that gig jobs offer. By expanding benefits to be more generous, you can tip the scales in your favor.
5. Simplified Hiring Process
Applying to gig jobs is quick, easy, and can be done entirely at home. An applicant can go through the process in minutes, usually only waiting a few days (if that) for approval. To compete, the first step for hourly businesses is to make the application process faster. Even so, interviewing and onboarding is still typically done in person, and can be a time-consuming process. Using technology like automated interview scheduling and digital onboarding are effective ways to cut down time in the hiring process. A frictionless workflow that simplifies the hiring process enables you to compete with the speedy hiring process in the gig economy.
Want more ideas for increasing applicant flow and hiring faster? Find our top tips in 21 Ways to Increase Applicant Flow for Hourly Hiring.