Rapid inflation and wage pressures have become serious challenges for businesses, requiring innovative solutions to maintain competitiveness and financial stability. One effective solution is a flexible workforce model, which helps companies better manage labour costs while offering workers the flexibility they want. Let’s look at how this model can help mitigate the effects of inflation and wage pressures.
Inflation increases costs for businesses, including raw materials and production costs, which in turn increases wage pressures as workers expect higher wages due to the rising cost of living. This can reduce a company’s profitability if wage costs grow faster than revenues.
The flexible workforce model offers a solution by allowing companies to adapt to changing economic conditions and maintain cost control. A flexible workforce allows for wages to be paid only for hours actually worked, thereby reducing labour costs. In addition, it contributes to employee satisfaction, as flexible working opportunities allow for a better work-life balance, which is increasingly important in today’s labour market.
“We use the GoWorkBit Hub strategically to manage our own labour costs and capacity. The Hub provides a solution to quickly call on people we already know and have trained when we have an increase in orders. This is to get the goods to the shops and to make sure that the people of Estonia have enough food on the table. GoWorkaBit’s platform and the Hub’s service are so convenient that you just enter specific times, dates and fees and the person is on their way. Efficient!”
Kätlin Erreline
Human Resources Specialist
Coop Estonia Keskühistu
GoWorkaBit’s Hub model, which combines a permanent workforce with a flexible workforce, ensures that a company always has the right number of employees at the right time without having to over-invest in permanent labour costs. The Hub is made up of an on-going pool of trained workers ready to take up work on demand. This helps to keep the company’s core workforce at an optimum level while at the same time responding quickly to changing workforce needs.
For example, using the GoWorkaBit Hub has helped a number of companies reduce overwork and staff turnover by providing solutions to unexpected workload changes. Sokotel AS has used the model to find short-term staffing when workloads suddenly increase – for example, to cater for large tourist groups. The Hub allows them to respond quickly and efficiently to such situations without having to go through the usual time-consuming recruitment process.
“Sokotel AS uses the GoWorkaBit platform in a wide variety of areas to recruit staff when workload increases unexpectedly and/or in the short term. The need to try and use GoWorkaBit arose while looking for a solution to a business need.
In the hospitality sector, workloads often surge, with a number of employees many times higher than the usual number. This may be dependent on some large tourist groups or conferences and their needs and requirements. There are mornings when we have to serve 1200 guests in a few hours and the number of helping hands needed at short notice can therefore be unexpectedly high.
When staffing needs arise unexpectedly or at short notice, it is the GoWorkaBit Hub that can help business and HR managers. These are your people who come to work when you need them. It would be significantly more labour-intensive for the whole organisation – and even seem inefficient and unthinkable – to look for a helping hand for a few hours through the normal recruitment process.”
Airi Neemre
Human Resources Manager
Sokotel AS (Original Sokos Hotel Viru)
Overall, the flexible labour model offers an effective solution to mitigate the effects of inflation and wage pressures. It helps to manage costs, increase employee satisfaction and ensure business sustainability in challenging times. A flexible workforce model is an investment in the future that supports business growth and competitiveness.