Hiring freezes often arrive with little warning and force difficult choices: how do you keep projects moving, protect client relationships and support your team when you can’t add headcount?
While these pauses are usually introduced to protect budgets during periods of uncertainty, they can quickly create strain if not managed carefully.
The good news is, there are plenty of solutions to cope with this difficult period. Keep reading to learn how.
What Is a Hiring Freeze?
A hiring freeze is when an organisation temporarily pauses the recruitment of permanent staff. It’s usually introduced to control costs during times of financial pressure, but it can also be triggered by restructuring, mergers or wider economic uncertainty.
The Business Impact of a Hiring Freeze
When hiring freezes hit, the effects are felt quickly across the business.
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Rising workloads and burnout: With no new hires to share the load, permanent staff can become overstretched, leading to fatigue, errors, and disengagement.
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Project delays and missed opportunities: Strategic initiatives may be slowed or paused entirely if there aren’t enough hands to deliver them.
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Strain on client relationships: Service levels can dip if deadlines are missed or communication falters, damaging hard-won trust.
Frequently Asked Questions About Hiring Freezes
How long do hiring freezes tend to last?
Hiring freezes vary in length depending on the cause. Some last only a few weeks, particularly if triggered by a short-term budget review, while others can extend for several months or even a year during major restructures or prolonged economic uncertainty. Most organisations aim to keep freezes temporary, as extended pauses can damage morale and slow growth.
How can you keep candidates engaged during a hiring freeze?
Be transparent and honest. Let candidates know that a freeze is in place, but that you’d like to stay in touch. Share company updates, industry insights, or invite them to networking events. Regular, personalised communication shows candidates they’re valued, making them more likely to re-engage when hiring resumes.
What can internal recruiters do during a hiring freeze?
Recruiters don’t need to sit idle during a freeze. Instead, they can:
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Build and nurture pipelines for future openings
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Strengthen employer branding by sharing authentic company stories
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Partner closely with managers to understand upcoming needs
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Review recruitment processes and introduce efficiency improvements
That way, when the freeze lifts, recruiters are ready to move quickly with an engaged talent pool and streamlined systems.
Practical Strategies to Cope as a Manager
In my experience as a recruiter, hiring managers who cope best are those who act quickly to mitigate these pressures.
That means being realistic about what the team can deliver, protecting staff wellbeing and finding creative ways to bring in support where it matters most.
1. Prioritise Ruthlessly
Choosing which battles to fight is important to win the war. Identify mission-critical work that directly impacts revenue, compliance or client satisfaction, and put less urgent initiatives on hold.
By knowing which tasks and projects to prioritise, you protect your team from spreading themselves too thin.
2. Increase Efficiency with Current Resources
It might be the best time to revisit your existing workflows to eliminate unnecessary steps and automate repetitive tasks where possible. Use automation tools to free up capacity without additional headcount.
3. Support Your Team Through the Strain
Be transparent about what’s happening, set realistic expectations and check in regularly on wellbeing. Seek feedback from team members to find out what they need and how you can support them.
4. Promote Employee Upskilling
Identify existing talent who can step into new roles or upskill current staff for expanded responsibilities. Encourage development through cross-training, stretch projects or short learning sprints.
5. Continue Nurturing Your Talent Pipeline
Don’t stop hiring efforts entirely. Stay in touch with previously screened candidates, maintain networking channels and warm your talent pool for when the freeze ends.
6. Hire External Experts
Contractors, freelancers and temporary workers bring in the expertise you need without hiring permanent staff. They can step into critical projects, provide cover for skill gaps and deliver results quickly.
Why Temporary Staff Can Be a Lifeline
One of the smartest ways to ease the pressure of a hiring freeze is by bringing in temporary staff. Because temps are not permanent hires, they typically fall outside freeze restrictions, giving managers the much-needed flexibility.
Here are a few reasons to hire temporary professionals:
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Seasoned temp workers can step into roles quickly and make an impact from day one
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With extra hands in place, your team isn’t forced to absorb unsustainable workloads
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You have the flexibility to hire temp staff for a few weeks or several months, depending on your needs
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You get specialised experts without the financial burden of a permanent hire
In a period where your team risks burnout, introducing a skilled temp keeps projects on track and eases pressure on core staff.
How to Bring in Temporary Staff Quickly and Effectively
You can recruit a temp worker yourself or partner with a temp agency like Oriel Partners.
In a freeze, the agency route is usually faster because sourcing, screening, contracts and payroll are handled for you. Other benefits of hiring through a temp agency include greater access to temp professionals and reduced costs for training and job ads.
However, if you prefer to do it yourself, the process usually looks like this:
1. Define the Job Requirements
First things first, be very specific about what you’re looking for:
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Role or project your team needs help with
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Ideal candidate profile (must-have skills and experience)
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Work arrangement (full-time vs part-time, on-site vs remote)
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Start date and approximate duration
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Budget for salary and other benefits
2. Advertise the Temporary Role
Once you have a clear idea of the role, write a job description that highlights the responsibilities, required skills and the temporary nature of the position.
Promote the job advert across job boards, social media channels and your company website.
3. Shortlist & Interview Candidates
Review incoming applications, filter for relevant skills and experience and then create a shortlist.
Look for candidates with a history of temporary work, because they’re often quicker to adapt and require less hand-holding. From there, conduct interviews to assess both their capability and cultural fit.
Tip: If you’re new to temp interviews, use these common temp job interview questions to quickly validate candidate suitability.
4. Secure the Right Candidate
After you find the right fit, send a job offer letter outlining pay rate, working hours, assignment duration and responsibilities. Be prepared to answer questions and negotiate terms, especially if the assignment length is uncertain.
Once both parties have agreed on the terms, make it official with a signed temporary employment contract. Here’s a free temp contract template you can customise to your needs.
5. Onboard the New Temp Staff
Even though temps are used to adapting quickly, a smooth onboarding process will help them hit the ground running faster.
Follow this onboarding checklist:
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Introduce them to their direct manager and the rest of the team
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Give access to company systems, tools and apps
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Provide to-do lists and priorities for the first few weeks
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Share key processes, SOPs and resources
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Set short-term deliverables and performance indicators
6. Check in Regularly
Dedicate one to two hours per week for a regular catch-up meeting with your temp staff. This is essential to align priorities, review progress and remove bottlenecks.
7. Decide the Next Step
As the initial assignment draws to a close, take time to evaluate how the arrangement has worked so far.
If the temp is performing well but the hiring freeze is still ongoing, you can either extend the contract or rotate the temp staff to other projects or departments that need additional manpower.
However, if the hiring freeze lifts, consider offering a permanent position. Temps who’ve already proved themselves are often excellent long-term hires, as you’ve had the chance to assess their fit in real time.
Check out our guide on temporary to permanent employment for more information.
Want to Stay Resilient During Hiring Freezes? We Can Help!
Hiring freezes can happen at any time, but they don’t have to halt progress. With the right strategy and the support of skilled temporary staff, you can protect your team from burnout and keep critical projects on track until the freeze lifts.
At Oriel Partners, we specialise in placing exceptional temporary professionals who can step in at short notice. We manage everything from sourcing and screening to payroll and training, so you don’t have to.
Hire exceptional temp staff without affecting your headcount today!
