Is Your Labor Mix Working? When to Use On-Demand, Temp, and Direct Hires in Hospitality and Facilities Support

August 27, 2025

 

Hospitality and facilities support are two sectors that routinely use outside staffing. On-demand and temp workers routinely mix with full-time employees as needed. In fact, relying on a single staffing model is often inefficient or too costly. It can leave the business overstaffed or scrambling for help during surges in demand. So, how do you get it right?

The answer lies in creating a strategic labor mix. The right blend of different staffing models enhances efficiency, provides critical cost control, and fosters a cohesive, productive team that is ready for anything. Here’s a look at how to strike the right balance.

Understanding the 3 Staffing Models

To build the right mix, you must first understand your options. On-demand staffing provides ultra-flexible, often same-day labor for immediate and short-term needs. Temporary staffing is best suited for roles with a defined timeline, such as seasonal assignments or covering planned employee leave. And then there’s direct-hire, which involves partnering with a staffing agency to source permanent, full-time team members.

Each of these three models serves a distinct purpose in a comprehensive and flexible staffing strategy.

When to Use On-Demand Labor

On-demand labor is often viewed as the solution to unpredictability. It’s ideal for covering last-minute call-outs or providing extra hands for a one-off event. 

Think of filling same-day shift openings in housekeeping, janitorial services, or food preparation. The on-demand model is perfect for assembling banquet staff for a large wedding, deploying a cleaning crew after a big conference, or getting setup support for a campus event.

Manage it properly, and on-demand labor ensures you have the headcount you need, exactly when you need it, without any long-term commitment.

When Temporary Staffing Works Best

Temporary staffing sits in the middle between on-demand and direct hires. It works well when you only need personnel for a fixed amount of time. The difference, though, is that temp staffing works best for foreseeable needs. It’s the go-to solution for navigating seasonal volume spikes, like the holiday rush at a hotel or student move-in week at a university.

Hospitality temporary staffing solutions work well for front-of-house roles, while facilities staffing can provide warehouse crews or maintenance technicians for specific project durations.

When Direct Hire Is the Right Fit

Direct hire is the best path for foundational roles that are critical to long-term success. These are the positions where stability, institutional knowledge, and deep team integration are a must.

Consider direct hiring for team leader roles, such as supervisors, lead cooks, or head maintenance technicians. It’s also the right choice for roles that require significant, high-investment training, where employee turnover would be particularly costly.

When your internal HR resources are stretched thin, a staffing partner can manage the entire recruitment process for you.

How to Decide: The Questions to Ask Yourself

Although you have some guidelines listed above, it’s best to ask yourself a series of questions to help determine which of the three models is right for any given situation. They are:

• Is this a need that is predictable, or is it a last-minute emergency? 
• How long will this role be necessary — a day, a few months, or permanently? 
• Do you want an opportunity to evaluate a worker’s performance and fit before making a long-term offer?
• Are the operational risks of high turnover or underperformance in this specific role?

Answering these questions will help guide you to the flexible staffing solution that best suits your needs.

Why a Flexible Staffing Partner Matters

While you should learn how to pick the best option for your needs, nothing beats having the right staffing partner at your side. A truly flexible staffing agency can provide expert support across all three models, helping you make the right choice every time.

Snelling Staffing’s nationwide network and knowledgeable local branches provide the most comprehensive facilities temp staffing solutions around. We not only offer staffing, but we can also assist you with compliance, onboarding, and strategic workforce planning to ensure your labor mix is always optimal.

Get Strategic About Staffing

Is your labor mix working? In today’s hectic hospitality and facilities support market, sometimes it can be hard to tell. But it’s worth getting it right, as finding the right balance between on-demand, temporary, and direct-hire staff makes your company resilient and scalable.

Stop letting staffing challenges dictate your operational limits. To learn how Snelling Staffing can help you build a custom workforce plan, contact us today.