Student workers integral part of several businesses

Luis Rodriguez, left, and Will Barefield, with Bellhops work to move a chair from the Legacy at Fort Clarke apartments on Thursday, July 24, 2014 in Gainesville, Fla. Bellhops uses college students to help people move. At getbellhops.com, users schedule a date and time they want movers to arrive, and Bellhops load or unload their belongings.

Apartment turn season is a massive undertaking in a major college town with thousands of students to move and thousands of apartments to clean in a short time.

Several businesses have built their models around mobilizing a small army of college students for the busy period from late July until school starts, then cutting back on staff and hours when students are looking for part-time work that fits their school schedules anyway.

When they're out of class, that's when we need them, and when we need to cut back there's no hard feelings because they're looking for a different workload, said Wade Swikle, president of the 2 College Brothers moving company.

The company, which started in 2011, has been ramping up to 18 employees for its busiest period over the next two weeks, with 75 moving jobs already scheduled this week, and probably will pare back down to 10 employees when school starts, Swikle said.

2 College Brothers has two trucks of its own and will be renting at least two more this week through an account with Penske.

Employees who want to keep working after turn season can stay on the payroll and pick their own schedule from moving jobs posted on a cloud-based calendar.

For the next month, Student Maid is hiring upward of 400 students which includes high schoolers in the summer to clean thousands of empty apartments. Owner Kristen Hadeed said the business will keep the best 100 workers for the rest of the year when they clean more homes, businesses and schools, as well as providing house sitting, pet sitting and dog walking services. Employees make $9 to $11 an hour.

Hadeed started the company five years ago while a student at the University of Florida because she had a hard time finding a job that was flexible with her school schedule.

Celena Letcher, 21, said Student Maid's flexible scheduling was most important to her when looking for a job. For the past year and a half, she has worked about 20 hours a week around her school and sorority functions.

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Student workers integral part of several businesses