How Staffworks is Saving $1.1 Million Per Year Leveraging TempWorks AI Ecosystem

The Background

Staffworks is a New York state-based staffing firm serving Central and Southern New York. Though the company serves primarily light industrial staffing, their services extend from career entry to professional levels and cover healthcare, technical, customer service, and more.

Founded in 1994, Staffworks has been voted the Best Employment Agency in the region multiple times in recent years.  

The Challenge

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Staffworks lost a number of employees as a result of hiring freezes, low volume, and staff attrition due to business uncertainty.

What’s more, Staffworks felt limited by previous ATS and workforce management systems they were using. Other systems that Staffworks used were frequently broken and were released too quickly to the public without proper quality assurance, according to Todd Consilio, Staffworks’ VP of Business Operations.

During the pandemic, a national staffing firm that operated offices in Staffworks’ region closed, with Staffworks acquiring some of that firm’s business as well as employees.

In short, the challenge Staffworks faced was multifaceted: they needed to make up for or backfill vacant roles while simultaneously switching software platforms, all under the backdrop of a global pandemic that they needed to work through as many of their clients operated in essential sectors like healthcare and food service.

The Solution

After vetting a number of software providers, Staffworks eventually decided on TempWorks, officially going live in early 2022. There were a number of features unique to TempWorks that Staffworks was able to leverage that helped them reach their goals of sustainable growth:

• Using TempWorks’ report writer module, Staffworks was able to create their own reports to determine service qualified leads for better outreach and partnerships; a feature that was available with other providers but needed to be outsourced to the software provider at extra expense.
• By taking on Lone Oak Payroll – TempWorks payroll and funding wing – as their payroll provider, they could scale without having to worry about the logistics of making payroll. Staffworks didn’t have to turn down any opportunities because they didn’t have the infrastructure to accommodate them.
• Through TempWorks software and its ecosystem of integration partners, Staffworks was able to leverage AI and automation to provide first-class service across the staffing lifecycle without increasing headcount.

Let’s dive more into how they did it.

With TempWorks as their system of record, Staffworks was able to leverage Whippy, a TempWorks integration partner, to automate communication, screening, and talent engagement. Using job and talent data from their database, Staffworks followed this end-to-end workflow, deploying automation and generative AI throughout the process:

1. Creating a Job Listing: Recruiters use SystemIQ, TempWorks native generative AI tool, to build a relevant, compelling job description for an open role in a matter of seconds.
2. Engaging Applicants: When candidates apply, Whippy springs into action. The AI recruiter tool engages each applicant instantly, 24/7, asking a set of custom, pre-set questions to provide an initial screening.
3. Candidate Scoring: Candidate responses are scored against job requirements and the results are sent back to recruiters.
4. All Details are Added Into TempWorks: This screening data is written back into TempWorks including: candidate score, screening transcript, updated interest codes, and qualification notes.

The first level of candidate screening and engagement is totally automated, freeing recruiters up to focus on evaluating and placing qualified talent.

“Frustration was huge when you can’t reach all the candidates that are coming in. You get a thousand candidates a week and your team only reaches out to, say, 400 of them. There’s a lot of potential that you’re missing out on. They go into your database, and maybe you never talk to them again. So that’s where within, I think it’s 2 minutes, Whippy reaches out to the person, probably while they’re still sitting at the computer, maybe they had just applied. They’ll get a communication from Whippy, and if they’re interested in doing a screening, they get it right then while they’re hot, and they can be passed right on to the recruiter, who’s already got a summary of you and knows who they’re talking to. It really helps improve the day-to-day performance.” -Todd Consilio, Staffworks

What’s more, Staffworks leveraged Whippy’s AI receptionist tool to automate other front-line requests from candidates. Employees reaching out for call-offs, injury notifications, payroll and paycheck questions, W-2 requests and more could be handled immediately without increasing headcount.

The Results 

First and foremost, Staffworks employees were thrilled at the reliability, functionality, and service of TempWorks.

“Unanimously, they said, TempWorks is a lot better [than their previous software provider]. There’s fewer system crashes. It was easier to learn. It was better to onboard people. Basically, it let us do more.” -Todd Consilio, VP of Operations

Next, cost savings. By not having to backfill the roles of 8 recruiters, 6 receptionists, and 1 salesperson, Staffworks is able to save $1.1 million each year.

Productivity also increased. Before leveraging TempWorks AI ecosystem, recruiters were averaging 2.72 placements per week; with the new system in place, that number jumped to 4.67. In total, Staffworks saw an increase of 74% in recruiter productivity.

By modernizing their operations, Staffworks has been able to do more with less. Leveraging AI and automation means that every candidate is engaged and evaluated, and recruiters are given the actionable information they need to fill roles faster with the best possible candidates.

“When asked the question, well, what do you think of Whippy and TempWorks? It’s like, well, geez, I’d never want to go back to the old way.” -Todd Consilio, Staffworks

With SystemIQ, Whippy, and the rest of the AI ecosystem within TempWorks software (not to mention payroll processing and funding through Lone Oak), the efficiencies gained and cost savings can be truly extraordinary. Staffworks is a testament to the success that can be achieved when powerful tools are used to their fullest potential.