Staffing agencies often have a level of expertise that far exceeds some employers’ human resources departments. Hiring recruiters, employment specialists and an employment or recruiting manager to supervise staff could require a lengthy recruiting period to find qualified employees. Staffing agencies provide services that rival the best-qualified recruiters and employment specialists, usually at a lower cost. Employees of staffing agencies generally have a higher level of expertise related to job knowledge, employment trends, and recruitment practices by virtue of the continuous placement of employees. They also have industry expertise if they work for staffing agencies that specialize in certain fields, such as health care providers.

Using staffing agencies can result in lower costs associated with hiring adequate staff to recruit applicants. However, because staffing agencies manage the entire employment process, they also relieve employers of costs related to pre-employment testing, background investigations, and drug screening. In addition, employers save money related to the expense of payroll processing and benefits administration. Small employers find that they can rely on staffing agencies to provide them with qualified employees at remarkable savings.

Staffing agencies have a larger network of available workers than do many employers. Employers looking to hire seasonal workers, for example, would need to advertise job openings, interview candidates, and process new hire documentation for a relatively short period of employment. Staffing agencies, on the other hand, may have relationships with workers they’ve already identified as dependable, reliable, and conscientious and who can fill a vacancy in a matter of days, or even hours. The network that staffing agencies maintain is a broad one from which they can tap potential employees who can fill any position an employer might have or anticipate.

Employers that engage the services of staffing agencies for temporary employees get an opportunity to observe employee performance, qualifications, and work habits before offering the temporary worker a permanent job. This can cut down on turnover once the trial period is complete and both the employee and employer are satisfied the job is a good fit. Using staffing agencies for high-volume placements can result in tremendous savings related to turnover, training costs, and the intangible costs of turnover, such as employee morale.