According to a new survey, 75% of businesses worry about having enough staff at Christmas.
A survey of 1,000 UK SME’s found that four out of five (76%) expected a busier Christmas period in 2023. Nearly two thirds (65%), also, were looking to hire more staff this year than last.
According to the online recruitment platform Indeed Flex the increased demand for workers at Christmas is the reason why 58% of companies are beginning the hiring process earlier this year than last.
Four out of five businesses (80%) said they needed full-time employees, whereas 27% required part-time workers. The demand for temporary full-time workers (30%) as well as part-time employees (26%) was high.
In spite of the government’s plans to partially prohibit zero-hour contracts two thirds (66%) said that they plan to offer them to newly hired employees this Christmas.
Nearly half of firms (48%) said that finding the right employees was their greatest recruitment challenge during the holiday season. 40% said that managing employee requests for holidays was their main concern.
Other key issues included increased salary costs (38%), organizing staff rotas or shift patterns (36%), as well as retaining staff (32%).
More than three quarters (77%) said that the Christmas season is the most important period for their business.
Novo Constare is the CEO and cofounder of Indeed Flex. He said that hiring extra seasonal workers would address immediate labour shortages, and allow firms to fully take advantage of busy holiday season.
This approach could also ease financial pressures in the coming year when employers’ National Insurance Contributions will increase.
The tax increase will shock many businesses, and they will need to control staff costs more closely to protect their profits and keep expenditures under control.
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