The Work Opportunity Tax Credit leaves more presents under the tree
Ready or not, the holiday season is just around the corner.
For businesses in retail, hospitality, e-commerce, logistics, and more, that means an uptick in sales–and an uptick in hours worked.
That’s why many will soon bolster their staff with seasonal employees. Last year, US businesses hired over half-a-million holiday workers, and this year’s projections have only grown. For instance, Target recently announced that they plan to hire 100,000 seasonal workers in 2024.
Hiring and recruiting costs about $5,000 per employee in 2024. That’s why many business owners are asking themselves whether taking on seasonal workers is worth it, or if they should simply pay existing employees overtime, or accept fewer customers orders–neither an attractive alternative.
Seasonal staff bring headaches
Hiring and recruiting is expensive, but that’s not the only challenge of seasonal staff.
When workers know their job is temporary, training and managing them to provide quality service can be difficult–and it’s not all their fault. Working through the holidays is extra stressful for everyone.
Additionally, seasonal staff represent a disruption to your permanent staff’s status quo. Consider that nearly 50% of full-time employees report that they think about quitting while on vacation, and that 20% of employees who quit do so within a month of taking vacation. Is introducing seasonal staff worth the risk of losing your full-time employees?
The headache of these challenges can be relieved through smart adoption of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC).
WOTC kills the pain
If your business will soon take on seasonal workers, hiring WOTC-eligible employees will kill the pain of seasonal staffing.
WOTC rewards employers who hire disadvantaged job-seekers with tax credits up to $9600 per employee. 20% of US citizens are eligible for WOTC for belonging to one of nine targeted groups
WOTC employees are on average 408% more profitable than their peers. That’s because the value they bring through lowered tax liabilities eclipses the necessary costs of hiring and recruiting, and brings no extra overhead.
In addition, research shows that WOTC workers:
- Perform better than or equal to their peers
- Stay in their job as long or longer than non-WOTC employees
- Are less likely to leave their job in the first year than their peers
- Earn as much over time as their peers
- Progress through career ranks at the same pace as non-WOTC employees
Finally, WOTC workers tend to come from diverse backgrounds, and bring diverse experiences to workforces. As a result, adding WOTC employees to your workforce can benefit DEI initiatives, and benefit your workplace culture in a myriad of ways–including driving innovation and growth, according to Harvard Business Review.
Americans spent nearly a trillion dollars on holiday-related spending in 2022. Smart businesses will do everything they can to claim as much of that spending as possible in 2024.
Get WOTC with Arvo risk-free
Whether you’re brand new to WOTC or claim it using another service provider, working with Arvo is the right choice.
That’s because:
- Our fees are 100% contingent, so there is no risk in integrating our WOTC tools and solutions.
- We offer complimentary WOTC performance audits for businesses who hire seasonally
- We partner with major ATS and payroll providers, making claiming WOTC easier than ever for many
Get in the holiday spirit by creating Q4 profits that’ll make you say HO-HO-HOLY COW!
Call us today.