Navigating The Financial Challenges of Holiday Season Surges In Staffing

Kyle Wilson

Last Modified : Aug 21, 2024

Reviewed by: Bruce Sayer

As consumers plan for holiday spending, time off, and celebrations, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are gearing up to prepare their businesses for a significant increase in consumer demand. For staffing agencies, efficiently managing seasonal fluctuations in staffing, especially during the holidays, requires careful planning and agility to tackle the many potential challenges that may arise.

Staffing agencies provide a cost-effective solution for businesses to address these demand spikes, but how do agencies prepare themselves for the peaks and valleys of seasonal demand? Typically, agencies are very good at responding quickly to surging demand– it’s what they do. So, for many agencies, it’s not a question of how to meet the need but how to finance it.

This article explores the financial challenges and solutions staffing companies should consider to respond effectively and profitably to seasonal surges in staffing.

The opportunity

The resilience of our economy is worth noting. Manufacturing output rose 0.4% in September in response to strong consumer spending. Economists reported that retail sales grew by 0.7% in the same month, surpassing projections for just 0.3% growth. On a year-over-year basis, there was a 3.8% increase in retail sales for September. August’s data was revised upward, indicating a growth of 0.8% instead of the initially reported 0.6%. As a result, Goldman Sachs increased its GDP growth projection for the third quarter by 0.3%, reaching an annualized rate of 4.0%. If realized, this would mark the fastest growth since the end of 2021.

Following this surprising uptick in sales, the National Retail Federation (NRF) anticipates record-breaking holiday spending in November and December. Sales growth between 3% and 4% compared to 2022 translates to a total holiday spending expected to range between $957.3 billion and $966.6 billion. In response, the NRF expects retailers to hire between 345,000 and 450,000 seasonal workers to meet this demand for the holiday sales season.

The 2023 holiday season is shaping up to be a banner year for sales, providing an ideal environment for staffing agencies to capitalize on the demand for seasonal workers.

The challenge

Opportunities often come with challenges that must be overcome to reap the anticipated rewards. If seasonal spikes in workforce demand presents an opportunity for staffing agencies, operational agility and financial flexibility are the challenges.

Operational agility stems from the core business capabilities of the agency. Recruiting, training, and retention practices can be steered by management and enhanced by the effective utilization of technology. Legal compliance issues can be best managed by in-house expertise or contracted specialists. But how do staffing agencies overcome the challenge of financial flexibility in an era of high-interest rates and a contracted credit market?

For many staffing agencies, the answer is to work with a reputable alternative lender experienced in the staffing industry.

The solution

Maintaining flexibility is a crucial element of a staffing agency’s financial structure and a key solution to support operational agility. Having readily available working capital and the autonomy to direct funds as needed allows management to implement strategic plans and capitalize on growth opportunities. Unlike traditional bank financing, which often imposes restrictive financial covenants that curtail a borrower’s capacity to expand, alternative lending offers a pathway to greater agility and responsiveness to demand fluctuations. Staffing agencies seeking the autonomy to operate their business on their terms are now recognizing the many advantages offered by the flexibility of alternative lending solutions.

Flexible funding options

Alternative lenders provide funding flexibility by offering quick access to capital with minimal restrictive loan covenants. Agencies can choose payroll funding solutions that best align with their goals and can tailor funding terms to better support changing financial requirements. For example, depending on their financing needs, they might opt for an invoice factoring arrangement or asset-based lending.

Here’s a brief breakdown of these payroll funding options:

Invoice factoring: This funding option is a specialized form of accounts receivable financing specifically designed for the staffing industry. It is a fast, easy-to-manage cash flow solution that ensures funds are available for growing payroll burdens. Here’s how it works:

• Agencies sell their accounts receivables to an alternative lender at a discount in exchange for payment within 24 hours.
• Leading alternative lenders transfer funds at an advance rate of 90% or higher. The remaining balances are held in reserve.
• Reserve amounts are released when the factoring company collects full invoice payment from the agency’s customer.
• Agencies can opt for customer notification or confidential arrangements.
• Funding volumes can be scaled up or down based on the agency’s changing needs. The more funds you need, the more invoices you send along for early payment.

With invoice factoring, funding approvals are based more on the creditworthiness of an agency’s clients than on the business itself, allowing agencies with less-than-ideal credit histories or underperforming business levels to qualify. And since invoice factoring leverages the value of uncollected receivables (money earned but not yet received), it doesn’t create additional debt on the company’s balance sheet.

Asset-based lending (ABL): For agencies needing significant access to working capital to support larger demand surges, ABL provides financing up to $50 million. This financing option uses an agency’s total eligible accounts receivable collectively as collateral to secure a loan:

• Financing is structured as a revolving line of credit allowing agencies to repay outstanding balances and reborrow up to the agreed-upon limit.
• Terms can be custom-designed to meet the individual needs of your business.
• Asset-based loans have few covenants, resulting in maximum flexibility.
• The additional credit is obtained without diluting equity – you don’t give away a stake in your business.

It should be noted that funds obtained through ABL enable swift response to increased staffing needs and afford borrowers flexibility for diverse purposes. These funds can be utilized at the borrower’s discretion for various strategic initiatives such as equipment purchases, acquisitions, or debt refinancing.

Whether it’s invoice factoring or ABL financing, having a reliable source of flexible funding can be a competitive advantage. When responding to seasonal surges in staff demand this holiday season, it enables agencies to confidently pursue new opportunities, attract top talent, and build stronger client relationships.

Key Takeaways

• The economy continues to defy expectations with stronger than projected growth in 2023’s third quarter driven primarily by consumer spending.
• The National Retail Federation (NRF) anticipates that holiday spending will achieve record levels in November and December.
• Retailers are anticipated to hire between 345,000 and 450,000 seasonal workers for the holiday sales season. Manufacturers are expected to increase their demand for temporary labor as production scales up.
• Staffing Agencies must enhance operational agility and financial flexibility to meet increased demand for short-term labor.
• Alternative lenders provide the financing resources staffing agencies need to support operational agility.

Conclusion

Despite elevated inflation and high-interest rates, consumer spending is acknowledged as the main contributor to the economy’s unexpectedly strong growth in the third quarter of 2023. Personal consumption expenditures represented nearly 68% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product. Expectations are for higher consumption levels as the holiday spending season kicks into high gear. Retailers are gearing up with increased short-term staffing levels to meet demand. Staffing agencies with the capacity to scale up rapidly with a contingent workforce have a golden opportunity to capitalize on the unexpected strength in consumer spending.

Funding rapid expansion of services will require a flexible financial structure with minimal restrictions, maximum access to capital, and enhanced control of funds. Choosing the right lending partner for your staffing agency provides fast access to capital with easy qualification requirements, 24-hour response times to funding requests, minimal loan covenants, and more control of how money is received and spent.

To navigate holiday season fluctuations effectively and profitably, staffing agencies must establish operational agility supported by flexible financing. With these capabilities in place, the 2023 holiday season is shaping up to be fertile ground for the deployment of short-term workers and an unexpected boost in staffing agency revenues.

Kyle Wilson

Kyle Wilson, SVP, Business Development Officer, is responsible for business development efforts throughout North America, supporting eCapital’s mission to empower companies by accelerating their access to capital.

Kyle joined eCapital from Hitachi Capital Canada, where he held the position of Director, Business Development. Prior to that, he held business development management positions at Bibby Financial Services, i-Cubed Industry Innovators, BDC and Bank of Montreal. He is a Chartered Professional Accountant and Certified Management Accountant and holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Commerce and Finance from Brock University.

Kyle is a seasoned CPA and CMA and is instrumental in supporting clients and partners financing requirements while driving our continued growth in the commercial lending space.