The job market is a tough thing to crack, but it’s also difficult for employers as well. From a company’s point of view, they want to hire the highest quality employees possible for the least amount of money. Most people assume that you will only attract lower calibre applicants if you set the wage too low. This isn’t necessarily the case, because there are many fantastic potential employees that you can consider for a little less money.

For example, immigrants can sometimes have a hard time finding work, largely because of language barriers. There are people coming from overseas who are highly skilled and very well trained in what they do, so you can take advantage of these skills so long as a high language proficiency is not of huge importance to the role. These could be people who would work in accounting or engineering, for example, and you would just encourage them to participate in an English program while they are working for you. They will appreciate the opportunity you are giving them and they are happy to utilize their existing skill set, rather than taking a lower-paying entry-level position elsewhere.

Another market that you can consider are women who have taken time off to start a family or be closer to their children. They may have been displaced from the corporate environment for a few years and they could be having a hard time getting back into the job market. These smart women are perfectly capable of getting back into their old roles and they may be willing to accept a slightly lower wage at first for the opportunity to get back in.

A third area that you can consider are temporary help services. Do you really need that position filled on a full-time basis? It is possible to hire someone on an as-needed basis from a temp firm, or you can hire freelancers as you need them for certain projects. The same can be said about college internships and similar programs.