A job opening that’s been vacant for months. A project whose duration you’re not yet sure of. Or a recruitment need that’s simply become too big for your own team. Sound familiar? You’re not alone. Technical roles in high demand—such as mechatronics engineers, systems engineers, and offshore specialists—are hard to find, and how you deploy them makes just as much of a difference as whether you can find them in the first place.
There are roughly three ways to approach this: secondment, temporary-to-permanent, and RPO. Each of these three addresses a different type of challenge. In this article, we explain what each solution entails and when to choose which one.
Secondment: Flexibility Without a Permanent Employment Contract
With secondment, you hire a professional for a specific period or a specific project. The employee is employed by WFS PRO but performs the work for you.
This works well for project-based work: a spike in production, a temporary expansion of the team, or a project with an undetermined end date. Seasonal or peak-load work is also well-suited to this approach—think of shipbuilding with a recurring maintenance season or aircraft maintenance with fluctuating workloads. You can scale up when needed, without being tied to a long-term payroll commitment.
Deta-vast: Test first, then decide
Deta-vast works essentially the same way as temporary staffing, with one important difference: it includes an option for permanent employment. You and the candidate first work together for a period of time, without an immediate permanent contract.
This is helpful when the technical fit looks good on paper, but you also want to know if things will click in practice. Does the candidate fit in with the team, and are you satisfied with how the collaboration is going? If so, the candidate can be hired after the secondment period and join your organization.
RPO and in-house consulting: a customized approach to your recruitment process
Are you running into any challenges in your recruitment process, regardless of a specific job opening? If so, RPO or in-house consulting can help. It’s all about a customized approach: we’ll review your recruitment process and improve it from the ground up, where necessary.
With RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing), we take over your recruitment on a structural basis, for example by deploying in-house recruiters at your company. In addition, we provide consultancy services to help you optimize your recruitment process: advising on process design, restructuring your workforce or flexible workforce, and employer branding. This is ideal for organizations facing a specific recruitment challenge, whether it’s an ongoing issue or a one-time need.
Which one is right for you?
In short:
- Temporary project or peak workload→ Secondment
- You want to test the fit first before committing→ Deta-vast
- A specific challenge in your recruitment process→ RPO or consulting
In practice, these solutions often overlap. A secondment can evolve into a permanent position. An RPO project can be temporarily supplemented with seconded specialists. That’s why at WFS PRO, we always look at the need first, not the service.
One partner, regardless of the form
No matter which solution is right for you, the basics remain the same: industry specialists who understand your field and a single point of contact throughout the entire process. You don’t have to figure out for yourself which service best fits your needs. We know how, and we’re happy to work with you to find the right solution.
Wondering what's right for your situation?
Please contact us for a no-obligation consultation. We’ll listen to your capacity needs and work with you to determine the best approach.
