The Variable Workforce Model: An Optimal Solution For Dealing With Field Service Uncertainties

Effectively managing the peaks and valleys in field service demand is one of the greatest challenges facing managers and executives across a broad array of market segments (e.g., IT, Telecom, Medical, etc.) within the High-Tech Service Industry. Indeed, since its early days, service executives within the computer and telecommunications industry turned to part-time employees and subcontractors to augment their staffing needs. These decisions were often temporary in nature. Typically, temporary or contingent labor was utilized to support periods of peak demand. These situations usually occurred when there was a spike in new product sales or when brought about by seasonal issues. For example, a surge in installations or refreshes resulting from new product purchases required that the service organization staff additional field service engineers (FSEs) to complete the installations in a timely manner. Seasonality could also create challenges with respect to resource allocation. Winter holiday seasons tended to place greater usage on retail technology, which then resulted in higher demand for emergency break-fix services. As a result, the service manager often required additional FSEs for his/her staff to augment the work assigned to full-time personnel.