Two Alliance members that mainly serve manufacturing businesses are using new scheduling approaches designed to meet worker needs and preferences while also satisfying employer demand.

In Wisconsin, Diversified Personnel Services has begun offering a “day labor” option for people who can’t commit to a 40-hour work week, or who have lost assignments due to inconsistent attendance – which can be linked to various barriers to regular full-time employment.  Promoted to candidates as “drop-in” work, “Work Today, Get Paid Tomorrow!,” this option has also proven to work well for individuals with earnings limitations tied to benefits stipulations, thus tapping into a previously disengaged workforce, notes Ann Janquart, Vice President, Employee and Staffing Services.

Drop-in workers earn a lower wage than workers who accept a full-time schedule but are paid the next day via paycard if they complete their shift. (Workers who leave a shift early are paid the following week.) On average, over 50 people per day opt for the daily rate.

DPS began offering this option for workers placed in the in-house packaging business of its parent organization Opportunities, Inc., and has extended it to include select external staffing clients that agree to this arrangement. External accounts use this model for project-based work, re-work and jobs with intermittent spikes in work.

In Ohio, Temp2Higher is piloting part-time entry-level manufacturing assignments as a temp to full-time hire model that gives candidates time to figure out transportation, arrange child care, and build up their physical stamina for full-time work. The aim is to help workers achieve stable employment while also helping area businesses attract and retain new hires, says Amanda Cooper, Business Development Coordinator.

The first group of 10 candidates began in mid-October, working 2 to 3 days per week on second shift at Mansfield Engineered Components (MEC), with the goal to transition to full-time employment after 90 days. Of this cohort, 3 people converted to MEC’s payroll in December, and 2 more are on track to convert to hire this month. Amanda is encouraged by these initial outcomes and for the next cohort, will lower the minimum for conversion to 60 days. With data from the pilot and lessons learned from their experience with MEC, she expects to approach other manufacturing employers in Temp2Higher’s market.

‍