You’re Recruiting Within 5 Miles of Your Site? Want to Make That 30?

When it comes to shift based recruitment, most businesses default to the usual tools: job boards, agencies or referral bonuses. Tried and tested, they get the job done for the most part! But there is one question that is often left unanswered: how are candidates supposed to get to work? 

In most cases, it’s not the job description, hours or salary that’s limiting your talent pool, its geography. If you only draw your workforce from those who live within walking distance or own a car, you’re recruiting from a steadily shrinking pool of available talent. But there is a way to widen that radius significantly: shared transport.

Here’s a look at how a well designed, fully managed employee shuttle program could help you hire smarter, faster and farther than you ever thought possible.

Expanding your reach beyond the local postcode 

The Challenge? You are trying to fill roles from a smaller pool of candidates who happen to live nearby. And that is fine - until it’s not.

‍The Solution? By utilising shared transport, your job ads don’t stop being relevant the further out you post them. You can open up positions to people living 20 or more miles away who would otherwise be ruled out or put off by a lack of public transport or the cost of commuting. This could mean that there are whole new towns, suburbs and neighbourhoods where your ideal employees are waiting, but just don’t have access to your roles. A much larger group of qualified candidates, I might add. 

Making commuting a benefit and not a barrier

The Challenge? Candidates aren’t just weighing up salary when choosing a job, they are calculating what it will cost them to show up every day.

‍The Solution? Where commuting becomes simpler, more reliable, and affordable, jobs become significantly more attractive to prospective candidates. For shift workers in particular, knowing that there is a way to get to and from work without stress (or relying on inconsistent or unavailable public transportation) could be the make or break when deciding to accept a role. 

Filling the roles that aren’t as attractive to candidates

The Challenge? In shift work, there are often roles that are notoriously difficult to hire for; particularly across sectors like warehousing, manufacturing, food production and logistics.

The Solution? Transport (in particular, the availability of) removes one more reason for candidates to say no. Prospective employees who would otherwise be ruled out due to the lack of a car or nonexistent bus routes suddenly become viable candidates. You don’t need to change the job, just change how people can get to it.

Keeping the people you’ve already hired

The Challenge? High staff turnover is often glossed over as just the nature of the job, but in reality it's just one part of the story.

The Solution? Long, unpredictable and expensive commutes are common reasons why historically loyal employees are leaving. Shared transport can drastically reduce that pain point. When your teams don’t dread the journey to work, they will be more likely to stick around.

Improving wellbeing and the day-to-day experience

The Challenge? A stressful, costly or long commute can bleed into the rest of your day, affecting performance, stunting productivity and lowering morale.

‍The Solution? A solution like a shared commuter shuttle can give employees a chance to decompress on their way in or out; a transition time with less rushing and even less hassle. Over time, this time back all adds up; improving satisfaction and lowering the risk of burnout.

Strengthening your employer reputation

The Challenge? ‘Employer brands’ aren’t just about glossy career pages, or about what ‘perks’ you can offer. It’s about how you treat your employees, particularly in the day-to-day.

The Solution? The provision of thought-through employee transportation signals that you understand (and care) about the lived experience of your workforce. Real people, living real lives. Shared transport can become a practical benefit that sets you apart from competitors who are leaving staff to figure it out on their own. 

Reducing your environmental impact

The Challenge? Individual car commutes rack up scope 3 carbon emissions (famously so), and many businesses are under increasing pressure to show progress on sustainability.

The Solution? Consolidated transport is infinitely better for the planet. Fewer cars on the road, less congestion and healthier air quality levels are just some of the steps towards cleaner commuting. For businesses trying to meet (and exceed) ESG goals and targets, this is a meaningful win that also resonates with increasingly green-conscious employees.

Making recruitment more predictable and efficient

The Challenge? Human resource teams are spending far too much time chasing applicants, filling repeat vacancies over and over again. 

The Solution? When job vacancies are accessible to more people, you are not constantly having to fight the same uphill battle. You can recruit from a deeper bench and spend significantly less time trying to solve the same issues in the same (often futile) ways.

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Recruiting closer to your site often feels like a logical step to take; but it limits you more than you might think. The right candidates might not be far away in terms of motivation or skill, but they are often further away in terms of miles. And that difference can make all the difference.

Shared transportation is changing the game. Rewriting the rules on recruitment. Removing the physical barrier between your empty roles and the people ready to fill them. It’s a lever that can give you access to fresh new talent, keeps your workforce stable, and shows that you are serious about solving real challenges for your teams.

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So next time you are mapping out your hiring strategy, ask yourself just one question: what if five miles isn’t far enough?

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