What is the difference between a temporary work agency and an outsourcing agency?

The number of people interested in the services of a temporary employment agency is growing every day. We also more and more willingly reach for professional support in recruitment, therefore the interest in temporary work agencies and outsourcing agencies is growing. Often, however, people who want to use the agency services confuse these two types of support or use these names interchangeably. So how are they different?

Common denominator

Let’s start at the end, that is, we will analyze what the two institutions have in common. It is important to understand what the whole mediation mechanism is about. The most important are the two factors common to these different forms.

First, cost optimization in the company. Hiring an employee or a whole team on your own involves responsibility and costs. Agencies take this burden on themselves, so in uncertain times, when it is not entirely clear whether the company will operate according to plan and whether investment in good recruiters will pay off, it is worth putting this burden on the shoulders of specialist agencies.

Secondly, professional knowledge and access to good specialists. This is another advantage and reason to decide to delegate the obligation of recruitment on the shoulders of a professional company, which will select the staff to work at the highest possible level.

Recruitment and team building through a temporary work agency

Temporary employment agencies are intermediaries who employ workers for employers. All recruitment and employment costs, all studies are on the agency side. Cooperation with a temporary employment agency is an agreement between three parties. The agency worker is delegated to work in the company or company of the employer. However, formally he is employed by a temporary employment agency. This form of employment can last a maximum of one year per contract for one employer. Such a newly employed person performs tasks that cannot be performed by a full-time employee or performs the duties of an absent employee. This can be a great start for moving an employee from the agency to your team. It can therefore be a form of extended recruitment. Many large companies and corporations use this type of solutions.

Performing one-off tasks thanks to an outsourcing agency

Employee outsourcing is not so strictly regulated. It is also an agreement between three entities. It happens that the work is performed outside the employer’s company, often it does not reach the direct degree of employer with the employee. In principle, this form of cooperation should be referred to as outsourcing of services, and not employees, because it consists in outsourcing tasks to an external company – outsourcer – to the company. Even entire processes can be outsourced to the outsourcer, and the personnel is completely managed by the outsourcing agency. Thanks to the cooperation with the outsourcing agency, the employer does not incur any employee costs and the whole work cost is qualified as external costs.