It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Fourth quarter. The busiest season for HR professionals trying to hire seasonal workers. Let’s face it, everyone’s out there scrambling to get temps. We’ve been doing this for years—decades even—and it’s always the same story. You order double, even triple the number of temps, hoping maybe some of them will stick around. They quit, they walk out, and you’re left with chaos. Why? Because traditional seasonal temp hiring is broken. So why do we keep doing it?
Stop Using Broken Temp Models
You’ve probably seen it yourself: you order 50 temps, cross your fingers, and you’re lucky if 20 show up. And of those, maybe half stick around for more than a few days. The traditional temp model doesn’t work. It’s nothing but a Band-Aid that barely holds things together.
Here’s why it fails:
- Rigid Scheduling: Most temp jobs require a strict 40-hour workweek, with no room for flexibility. But temps today want options. They could just as easily drive for DoorDash or take a gig job that offers more control over their schedules.
- Fake Expectations: Temp agencies are telling their temps one thing (“Choose your own hours!”) and telling clients another (“We only hire full-time, set hour workers”). This lie only leads to frustration and even higher turnover.
Temps today could be driving for DoorDash or doing gig work. They’ve got a gazillion choices. So, why would they stick around for a 40-hour workweek with no flexibility? They won’t. That’s why you need to rethink your approach. The only way you’re going to get consistency and productivity from temps this Q4 is by building real flexibility into their schedule.
Reduce Turnover in Seasonal Temp Workers: Flexible Schedules
Traditional temp staffing is broken. We’ve been doing this for years, and the turnover is out of control—over 400% in light industrial manufacturing and warehousing for more than a decade. The solution? Flexibility. And I’m not talking about the fake kind that temp agencies like to throw around. I’m talking about real flexibility built right into the job order. If you want to solve high turnover during Q4, flexibility in scheduling is the way to do it.
Here’s the point — seasonal workers have more choices than ever. They can drive for DoorDash, pick up gig jobs, or scroll through 500 postings on Indeed. If your job doesn’t offer them the flexibility they want, they’ll quit on Friday and have a new gig by Tuesday.
You want to know why turnover is through the roof? It’s because you’re still trying to run your seasonal workforce like your full-time employees. You think firing someone for missing a day will solve the problem? No. All you’re doing is driving people away. You need a model that embraces flexibility—where workers can manage their own schedules. When they have control, they show up. They stay. They keep coming back.
A 1,500-Employee Seasonal Ramp-Up: The Untold Story
Many years ago, I was working with a 3PL client doing a major seasonal ramp-up—1,500 employees. The plan was straightforward: everyone had to work 40 hours a week to cover three shifts, seven days a week. And the client was clear: “Miss a day, you’re fired.”
But we ran into a clock problem. The cloud-based system went down, and we had to go old-school with paper time sheets. So, I went down with a team from corporate to support the client, and we started tracking the timecards.
Here’s what surprised me: as I’m looking at these cards, they should’ve been consistent—40 hours for everyone, right? But no one was working 40 hours. By the time we added it all up, it turned out we had 3,200 people filling 1,400 spots consistently. People were working 20 hours, 16 hours, 32 hours—all over the place.
So, I went to the supervisors and asked how this was happening. They laughed and said, “Yeah, if we enforced the 40 hours rule, we wouldn’t have anyone left in the building.”
They were cutting deals—one employee takes time off, another fills in. They pieced together a workforce that made sure product got out the door. That’s when it hit me: they covered 14,000 hours of work with 500 “flexible” workers. And that’s the secret. You can’t force people to work 40 hours anymore. There are too many choices out there—gig jobs, other opportunities. If you try to force them, you’ll lose them.
How to Build a Flexible Seasonal Workforce
Even the folks who want to make extra cash for the holidays still want time off. And guess what? That’s okay.
Here’s how you build a seasonal workforce: Instead of saying, “You’ve got to work 40 hours plus mandatory overtime. And if you miss a day, we’ll fire you,” take a more flexible approach. Let them be managed differently. Your supervisors don’t need to waste time babysitting seasonal workers who are just here for the holiday rush.
Here’s how we do it at MyWorkChoice: We allow flexibility in their schedule. We hire different types of workers.
- We hire workers who want what they call “full-time,” but for them, that could be 32 hours one week and 48 the next—and that’s fine.
- We also hire those who want to work only two or three days a week.
Guess what? Both types of workers are critical. Why? Because this is the new 40-hour workforce. Instead of making everyone stick to a rigid schedule, we allow the “full-timers” to take a day off here or there and one of the backup workers fills in!
We piece them together to give you full coverage that fits your needs and their lives. And it works. Let’s stop forcing people into roles they don’t want and start creating flexibility that benefits both the workers and the business.
Takeaways for Building a Flexible Workforce:
- Leverage flexibility: People won’t stick to rigid 40-hour schedules, especially with other job options available.
- Allow shift swaps: Workers will fill in for each other if they know they have the freedom to switch shifts.
- Accept different working hours: Some employees want full-time, but for them, that might mean 32 hours, not 40. Even better, offer a few half-shifts!
- Stop enforcing strict policies: If you try to force point systems on workers, you’ll continue to lose them.
- Piece together your coverage: Use a combination of workers to meet your 40-hour staffing needs.
How Flexibility in Scheduling Can Benefity Your Seasonal Workforce in Q4
Look, keep doing what you’ve always done, and you’re gonna get the same result—no-shows, chaos, and a revolving door of temps. Temps today have options—DoorDash, Instacart, whatever—but those gigs? Workers don’t know if they’re going to make money that day. With flexible scheduling at your facility, you’ll be the only place in town where they know when they pick up a shift, they’ll get paid.
So here’s your chance. Look at your upcoming seasonal work and say, ‘You know what? We’re doing things differently this year.’ Stop mandating 40 hours, stop worrying about job requisitions. Reqs don’t mean a thing if the employee shows up one day and ghosts the next.
Worry about shifts. Can your model fill every shift with people who actually want to come back? That’s the key. Whether you approach agencies, handle it yourself, or use MyWorkChoice, here’s your shot to bring flexibility into your facility.
We all know Q4 has the highest turnover and the least consistency. These workers aren’t here to get hired—they’re here for seasonal work. So stop forcing the same old model onto them. Let them work as many hours as they want. It’s not hard. Open up the shifts, let them pick, and make sure you’ve got enough people to cover everything. Do that, and you’re going to have a smooth, successful Q4.
Want help figuring out how to bring flexible schedules to your facility in Q4? I’ll walk you through how to introduce flexibility, how to get your line supervisors on board, and what to focus on first.
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