Although seasonal jobs are beneficial in that they offer supplementary income 
and skill building opportunities, many individuals do not seek out these jobs due to their temporary nature. People are rarely searching for a short-term position that they know will end once the busy season passes.
This type of seasonality is often associated with programs offering open enrollment. While 90% of the year will require limited coverage (maybe 4-5 agents), the open enrollment periods may require 20-25 agents all to be dedicated to a single client. The shift in need for workers poses a definite challenge. Fortunately, outsourcing is a beneficial solution.
Outsourcing benefits
Utilizing worker expertise
Specialized talent is helpful in any business. People who focus on a specific skillset every day have more time to focus on developing those skills and become better professionals in those areas. As Writtent describes, outsourcing allows professionals who have the time, capacity, and skills to do a job that your workers may not have the ability to do, particularly in a peak time. Outsourced agents represent an example of utilizing all worker experience. 20 agents can be moved to the busy programs for the open enrollment period and then be moved to other accounts when the busy time is over, using their time wisely, as well as helping with the programs. They can handle larger volumes of calls since that is what they are trained to do, while your workers can focus on the functionality of the Open Enrollment Program itself.
Maintaining good standing
Often, people will not want to work for a company that is notoriously known for letting workers go after a short time. After all, if the business truly cares about its workers, it will utilize worker expertise as previously mentioned. Outsourced call agents can help take the excess burden off of the in-office workers during peak times, providing a low-risk option for additional help as The Manager’s Resource Handbook discusses. By not hiring a large group of new staff just to lay them off a few months down the line, a company can maintain a good reputation for hiring new employees in the future by outsourcing their calls.
Customer satisfaction
Outsourcing calls during Open Enrollment Programs can also help with standardization and best practices for a company. The outsourced call agents are, as Writtent describes, already professionals who know the importance of best practices across a company to keep branding and identity consistent.
Additionally, one of the biggest benefits to outsourcing call center agents for Open Enrollment Programs is answering more clients faster. With decreasing wait times to reach an agent, customer satisfaction increases.
Best option
Overall, outsourcing call agents for Open Enrollment Programs is the best option for any business. Worker expertise on all sides is utilized, the company as a whole maintains a good reputation, and customer satisfaction increases. All of these factors contribute to a beneficial program, happy and less stressed workers, and a positive company identity.