Mar 15, 2010
A Business for Every Niche: Staff Sharing
What do you do when you have great employees, but not enough work to keep them—or afford to pay them—full time? Wouldn’t it be great if you could lend them out to other firms and be able to bring them back when the work ramps up again?
That dream is now a reality for some in the UK. Work Wise has opened an online swamp meet where employers can effectively trade employees. Staff Share originally opened to nonprofits only, but early success caused it to serve more industry as well.
According to Inc. Magazine, StaffShare operates like this:
How it works: On the StaffShare website the “seller” company lists the employee’s skills, daily rate, and availability. The cost is £50 (roughly $81.70) a year per candidate. The “buyer” company searches the database, uses the website’s message system to vet candidates and iron out details with the seller, and then a contract is sent electronically. The buyer company pays a 7.5 percent commission to StaffShare to help cover its operating costs. A conversation two-and-a-half years ago—so, pre-recession—with British Telecom and a handful of banks prompted Work Wise to pioneer its pink slip alternative, which has been in development since then.