Construction Staffing During A Global Pandemic
The global pandemic has led to many restrictions in the construction industry. Projects were suddenly put on hold, employees were furloughed, and other people began only working from home. This, paired with the economic downturn, has led contractors to be hesitant when it comes to construction staffing. When it comes to your workforce, having a group of highly skilled full-time employees is your best bet. This group should be top-notch and able to be flexible with the type of work they do. If you end up having projects that come up that require additional workers, it’s a good decision to hire temporary contract workers. At Advastar, we can help you during these unusual times. Whether you need a full-time employee or a contracted worker, we are here to help. Read on to learn more about construction staffing during this time.
Construction Sectors that Need New Hires
While many construction projects are currently paused, there are others that are still moving forward. Areas that tend to be less impacted by the pandemic are large government, state, and municipal projects. Industrial plants and data centers are also areas where construction is still happening. Projects that are funded by the government are less likely to have the budget issues that private sector projects may be experiencing. In addition, some projects are extremely large and have planned for a long time. These projects are less likely to be shut down. Also, projects that involve government mandates, corporate initiatives, and tax initiatives will continue onward despite the pandemic. On the other hand, construction projects involving homes, retail, commercial construction, and oil and gas are not as robust at this time.
How to Staff Accordingly
As a construction firm, it may be difficult to know how to staff during this time. On the one hand, you don’t want to be overstaffed. On the other hand, if projects come up, you want to be sure that you have enough people to get the work done in a timely manner.
The best strategy for this time period is to develop a core group of highly skilled workers. This could include your best on-site construction staff, project managers, engineers, supervisors, and more. This team is full-time and ready to tackle any project that comes their way. By having a core group of employees, the firm can be prepared for projects that come their way without feeling like they are scrambling for workers at the last minute. In addition to this core staff, you will need to have additional contract employees when larger projects come on the docket. These contracted workers provide a bit more flexibility when it comes to staffing.
Direct Placement
At Advastar, we can help you find that group of core workers during the period of instability. We take the time to carefully screen candidates and focus on finding personnel who have experience directly aligned with your needs and goals. At Advastar, we are very experienced in direct placement construction staffing. We have hired many employees for management positions, including project managers, safety professionals, procurement employees, and more. In addition, we have hired for a wide range of skilled trades positions. This includes crane operators and riggers, carpenters, electricians, and more. We know the personality traits, work ethic, and experience that are required for these various jobs. Our goal is to help you create or add to your core group of employees so that you have an all-star staff to get you through these rough times.
Contract Staffing

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In addition to your core group of full-time employees, you will inevitably have projects that require a larger workforce. This is where contract staffing comes into play. Contract staffing is a way to temporarily add to your workforce to meet the needs of certain projects. It is a way to improve project efficiency without adding to your employee-related costs. At Advastar, we can help you find these employees. We review resumes, screen candidates, and provide background checks to ensure that you are getting the best people possible. Another option for contract staffing is to hire contract-to-hire employees. With this option, we will find you contract employees with the option to hire them on permanently at the end of their contract. This gives employers a way to carefully observe the employee’s work before making a decision about hiring them full-time.
Payroll Services
During these crazy times, the last thing your firm needs to worry about is stressing about payroll. At Advastar, we can help make your payroll processing much easier. Not only can we get new employees added onto payroll, but you can also transfer your current employee payroll to us to take the burden off of you. In addition, this will decrease any overhead costs you have related to payroll. We can also provide new hire reporting, online payroll processing, direct deposits, live checks, and full-service payroll tax services. You take care of your day-to-day business operations and goals, and we will take care of hiring highly qualified employees and your payroll.
COVID-19 has been a very stressful time for many businesses and employees in the construction industry. While areas like residential and retail construction are currently on the decline, other areas, like large government projects, are still moving onward. At Advastar we believe that your firm will benefit from maintaining a core group of construction management and skilled trade employees during this time. In addition, use contract staffing to fill additional project needs. We can help with any construction staffing needs that you have, whether that is hiring a full-time project manager or a contracted on-site crane operator. Also, our payroll services will make your life much easier while also reducing some of your fixed costs. For more information about how we can help your construction firm during this unusual time, contact Advastar today.