A worker who's actually free but shows as unavailable in the system is a missed match — and it happens more often than agencies realise, simply because availability data goes stale between updates.
Why availability data goes stale
Workers' schedules change week to week, but if updating availability is a manual, occasional task, the system's picture of who's free drifts further from reality over time. The gap between "what the system says" and "what's actually true" is where fill rates suffer.
Make updating availability low-effort for workers
The easier it is for a worker to update their availability, the more likely it stays current. A quick toggle a worker checks regularly beats a form they fill in once a month.
Treat availability as perishable, not static
Availability isn't a one-time profile field — it needs the same kind of regular refresh as any other time-sensitive data. Agencies that treat it as "set once" inevitably end up matching against outdated information.
Use short-notice availability separately from general availability
A worker generally free on weekdays isn't necessarily free for a shift starting in two hours. Distinguishing standing availability from real-time, right-now availability improves last-minute matching specifically.
Review inactive profiles periodically
Workers who haven't updated availability in a long time are often no longer actively looking for shifts. Periodically checking in with them (rather than continuing to count them as available capacity) keeps the overall picture more honest.
How Meet Resources supports this
Meet Resources keeps availability as a live, easily updated part of a worker's profile, matched against shifts in real time — so agencies aren't relying on a snapshot that's already out of date by the time a shift comes in.