Rest & Relaxation

Rest & Relaxation

So everyone in the Engineering sector had a nice break over the festive period? Well I suppose most consultants did, and those in the public sector, but a fair few engineers and technicians worked harder over Christmas keeping roads clear, drains unblocked, electricity running and Santa’s sleigh oiled and squeak free! 

For the rest of the population it was a time to eat, drink and enjoy. That is often done at a nice restaurant or hotel over the festive period. So do we spare a thought for all the cooks, waitresses, maitre d’s and bar tenders’? I never did until now.

Find The Engineer recently acquired the company Better Recruitment, which specialises in hospitality and catering staff, both permanent and temporary. This was incorporated into our We Are Recruitment brand. Well when acquiring the business we did not think too much about the time of year. Most times when putting engineers into careers or payrolling contract engineers, Christmas is a time when the timesheets are scarce and the panic of payments for all engineers on a Friday are eased. However for hospitality and catering staff on a contract this time of year was the busiest, and boy did we know it.

The payroll and collating the timesheets was not a problem, the main problem was the rota that the staff were on. The timesheets would arrive at any time of the day and night, the staff had trouble getting timesheets and contracts signed by shift managers too. Our problem also, was that the banks were shut and so money transfers had to be planned in advance, which meant a lot of educated guessing on how many hours a person may do over the holidays. You cannot afford to underpay a contractor, but you cannot afford to overpay them. Literally. Wow! What a learning curve.

So time for a rest in January. No not really. This is the time that that strange phenomenon occurs whereby the government expects all its agencies and local authorities to spend all their money before the end of March or risk losing funding the following financial year. 

This means we have already been inundated with calls from clients asking for short term contractors with a lot of experience to help finish designs and schemes and help get them built. Luckily so far, we have many good engineers on our books, and as we know them all personally, it is easy for us to put the right ones with the right clients. This is a very busy time of year for us, whilst the hospitality industry has slowed a little giving us breathing space in that area. 

But wait, under our We Are Recruitment brand, we supply teachers too, and now the new term has started and a lot of teachers are ill and schools need temps quickly!! All hands to the pumps! I’m looking forward to a summer holiday if I have the time to have one! 

Happy new year!

Call us on 0845 021 2-4-6-8

www.findtheengineer.com