Staffing for the 24/7 Building: How Facilities Leaders Use On-Demand Labor to Stay Operational
December 4, 2025
From airports and hospitals to data centers and manufacturing plants, 24/7 facilities have become the backbone of modern infrastructure. Keeping these environments safe, clean, and fully operational requires precise coordination across maintenance, custodial, and security teams. Even a single gap in coverage can disrupt operations, compromise safety, and impact profitability.
Relying solely on a fixed, full-time workforce to meet those demands is no longer sustainable. That’s why forward-looking facilities leaders are embracing on-demand labor, building flexible workforce strategies that scale with demand, reduce downtime, and strengthen operational resilience.
If maintaining round-the-clock operations feels like a constant challenge, here’s how a flexible workforce model can help you stay fully staffed, compliant, and efficient—day and night.
Understanding On-Demand Labor in Facilities Management
On-demand labor is an approach to staffing that allows facilities managers to access skilled workers from a staffing agency as needed. The on-demand approach allows businesses to meet their staffing needs without the long-term commitment required for direct hires.
This flexible workforce is perfectly suited for the varied needs of a 24/7 facility. Some of the most common roles filled through on-demand facilities staffing solutions include:
- Janitorial and custodial staff
- Maintenance and technical personnel
- Security personnel
- Event staffing, including setup and teardown crews and guest services
The Bottom-Line Benefits of On-Demand Labor
By integrating on-demand facilities staffing solutions into your operational strategy, your business enjoys a number of advantages, such as:
Cost-Efficency
Going with a flexible workforce is cost-efficient, as you eliminate the fixed costs associated with a large, full-time staff, such as benefits, payroll taxes, and paid time off.
Scalability
You also gain the ability to scale your workforce as needed, something that’s not possible with full-time staff. Whether a sold-out concert requires massive event staffing or a sudden pipe burst means a boost to your maintenance crew, you can get the personnel you need in a matter of hours.
Specialized Skills
With a flexible workforce, you get access to specialized skills. You may not have certified HVAC technicians or floor waxing experts on staff, but on-demand labor makes them available to you.
Reduced Administrative Burden
Since your staffing partner takes care of payroll, workers' compensation, unemployment claims, and compliance with labor laws, you free up your administrative staff.
Adaptability and Productivity
On-demand professionals are often experienced workers who are accustomed to adapting to new environments, and they bring a high level of productivity right from the start. All this adds up to savings to your bottom line.
Strategies for Integrating On-Demand Labor into 24/7 Operations
So, how can you implement a flexible workforce model? It’s just a matter of following these steps:
- Assess your facility’s needs: Perform an analysis of your operations by identifying the critical roles that need coverage. Map out your peak hours and busy seasons (such as holidays or conference seasons), and the times when staff call-outs occur most often.
- Partner with a reliable staffing agency: Look for an agency with a reputation for providing reliable, compliant staffing solutions. They should also have a talent pool of pre-vetted, skilled professionals and a team that’s experienced in the demands of your industry and labor market in your local community.
- Develop onboarding and training for temporary workers: Review your current on-boarding and training program and revise where necessary to suit a temporary employee. Be sure to emphasize safety and security protocols.
- Implement flexible scheduling: Utilize scheduling software that can accommodate a blended workforce of standard employees and on-demand labor.
- Monitor and evaluate performance: Establish performance metrics for all roles, so you can objectively measure the effectiveness of your on-demand labor. Provide constructive feedback as necessary. Employees in the year ahead are looking for growth opportunities, so maintaining communication, mentoring workers, and aiding in professional growth is key, even if you don’t intend to hire full-time.
Stay Operational with a Flexible Workforce
The key to a successful, flexible workforce strategy is finding the right staffing agency to work with. A reliable partner will work to understand your specific needs, whether it's maintenance staffing, a large-scale janitorial workforce, or event staffing. They will have the on-demand labor that provides the agility to scale your team when you need it the most.
Snelling provides flexible facilities staffing solutions for businesses of all types. To learn more about how our on-demand staffing solutions can help you stay operational with on-demand labor, find a Snelling location near you today.