I’m here to be a whistleblower. Not like Edward Snowden or anything, you’ll get no secrets divulging issues of national security out of me, in fact about the biggest piece of classified information I have is my famous Cob Loaf recipe and that would take some serious convincing to reveal. No no, dear reader, I’m here to lift the lid on the perceived seedy underbelly of the recruitment industry or, as I like to say, dispel the myths around labour hire.
There are several common misconceptions from both businesses and workforce about how the recruitment industry operates. Let’s look at some of them:
MYTH - “The only people who get jobs through labour hire/recruitment are those who don’t have the skills to find their own jobs”
TRUTH – I can tell you from personal experience (on both sides of the desk) that this isn’t the case. For candidates who are re-entering the workforce following injury, illness, parental leave or just a break, a recruitment company is the perfect starting point. We can assist with CV’s, interview skills and presentation to ensure that, even if you’ve been out of the game for a while, you’re putting your best foot forward. It’s also a great place to start if you’re looking for something temporary to tide you over between contracts or in your off-season.
MYTH – “You charge out your staff at a premium rate and the workers get lower wages because of this. If they went to the company themselves, they’d earn more.”
TRUTH – While I can’t speak for any other recruitment companies, I can tell you exactly how we do things here at Trinity. I will always have a conversation with my clients about their expectations around wages for employees and from there our charge rate is added. What the client tells us is the wage, is what our workers receive. Out of our charge rate (that the client pays on top of the worker’s hourly rate) come all costs, including PAYE, ACC, KiwiSaver, PPE etc. Any and all costs incurred during the employee’s time with us are taken from our charge rate.
Note: Often our Trinity employees will end up being offered permanent contracts with our clients and that’s GREAT! Our goal here is to see 100% of our workers find permanent employment if that's what they are after. If, as an employee you find yourself in this wonderful position; know your worth and don’t be afraid to negotiate.
MYTH – “Labour Hire is too expensive.”
TRUTH – For some businesses, this may be the case. It’s an expensive old world out there at the moment and margins are being squeezed left, right and centre. The antithesis of this, however, is the cost to your business when you can’t resource the staff yourself (plus the HR that naturally comes with it) and how much profit you miss out on because of it. At Trinity we offer temporary labour charged at an hourly rate, as well as permanent placements for a fixed fee regardless of the employee’s salary (super cost-effective).
MYTH – “It’s modern-day slave trading.”
TRUTH – I wish I was joking about this one, but I legitimately heard those words come out of the mouth of a well-respected, albeit misinformed industry leader. Not only was she incorrect, the public forum during which she made the comments could have ended up being quite damaging to several companies. Fortunately, this opened the door for a rather robust and constructive conversation about the benefits of external recruitment. Now, I’m not saying by the end of it she totally changed her tune and is now our biggest client (she didn’t and isn’t), but she certainly understands the advantages of using temporary labour to get you through the busy times, and of permanent and offshore recruitment to tangibly decrease lost time and resource.
There are many more myths about this industry, but ultimately what it does do is provide a very tangible and meaningful path to permanent employment for both NZ Citizens and Migrants alike. You should see how our team swell with pride when another Work Visa gets approved, or another temp worker gets offered a permanent contract; to paraphrase our General Manager, Nils – “It’s just beautiful.”
- Sam Wilson, Business Development Manager at Trinity
