Weathering the storm with temporary staff and extra shifts
28 October 2013
The newly christened St Jude storm has been keeping recruitment and staffing firms as well as personnel managers busy across the UK.
Mon, 28 Oct 2013The newly christened St Jude storm has been keeping recruitment and staffing firms as well as personnel managers busy across the UK.
A member of the press team at Network Rail tells recruiter.co.uk the rail operator has not taken on temps on any substantial scale. “If we had, it would be done at a localised level and not something I would know about,” the spokesperson says. “It wouldn’t be anything major.”
Aisling Sisk, an area operations manager at blue-collar recruiter Extrastaff, adds: “We are getting extra bookings in because staff aren’t able to turn up.”
Kim Blackburn, driving & logistics area manager at industrial labour supplier Encore Personnel, says there has been “a surge of extra bookings for drivers of all classes” as haulage firms across the South have been unable to get deliveries done.
She tells recruiter.co.uk that the company has also proactively warned drivers out on the road today to take extra care.
Meanwhile Rebecca Flynn, from the Stratford, east London, branch of multi-sector recruiter Plan Personnel, tells recruiter.co.uk that finding drivers is already a busy area. She says she is “always looking” for more drivers to register, thanks to a well-documented national shortage.
A spokesperson for Western Power Distribution, which covers the South West, including Plymouth where 7,000 homes lost power, says that rather than bring in temporary staff who aren’t familiar with the business, existing contact centre staff have been working additional shifts to cope with a spike in calls.
This is also the plan for local authorities, with the Local Government Association saying in a statement that authorities will “divert staff from their normal duties to help out with emergency relief efforts should it be necessary”.
Finally, recruiter.co.uk always admires a well-placed press release, and notes comments from David Sturges, the chief executive officer of WorkPlaceLive, that “this storm sends a timely reminder to many business owners to think about contingency plans, including disaster and recovery and also the technology that needs to be in place to allow people to work seamlessly from home whatever the weather”.
Cloud hosting and remote desktop provider WorkPlaceLive, would you believe it, is one company offering just such a service.
A member of the press team at Network Rail tells recruiter.co.uk the rail operator has not taken on temps on any substantial scale. “If we had, it would be done at a localised level and not something I would know about,” the spokesperson says. “It wouldn’t be anything major.”
Aisling Sisk, an area operations manager at blue-collar recruiter Extrastaff, adds: “We are getting extra bookings in because staff aren’t able to turn up.”
Kim Blackburn, driving & logistics area manager at industrial labour supplier Encore Personnel, says there has been “a surge of extra bookings for drivers of all classes” as haulage firms across the South have been unable to get deliveries done.
She tells recruiter.co.uk that the company has also proactively warned drivers out on the road today to take extra care.
Meanwhile Rebecca Flynn, from the Stratford, east London, branch of multi-sector recruiter Plan Personnel, tells recruiter.co.uk that finding drivers is already a busy area. She says she is “always looking” for more drivers to register, thanks to a well-documented national shortage.
A spokesperson for Western Power Distribution, which covers the South West, including Plymouth where 7,000 homes lost power, says that rather than bring in temporary staff who aren’t familiar with the business, existing contact centre staff have been working additional shifts to cope with a spike in calls.
This is also the plan for local authorities, with the Local Government Association saying in a statement that authorities will “divert staff from their normal duties to help out with emergency relief efforts should it be necessary”.
Finally, recruiter.co.uk always admires a well-placed press release, and notes comments from David Sturges, the chief executive officer of WorkPlaceLive, that “this storm sends a timely reminder to many business owners to think about contingency plans, including disaster and recovery and also the technology that needs to be in place to allow people to work seamlessly from home whatever the weather”.
Cloud hosting and remote desktop provider WorkPlaceLive, would you believe it, is one company offering just such a service.
