Why You’re Losing Money with Staffing Companies — And What You Can Do About It

Let’s talk numbers, the business model no one tells you about, and how Go4 was built to flip the script for athletic trainers.

From 2015 to 2017, I used a staffing company to hire athletic trainers for lacrosse tournaments in my role as the Director of Participant Health and Safety at a nationwide event operator. We ran tournaments in Florida and South Carolina and I didn’t know enough ATs in the area to staff it on my own. This staffing company charged us $40/hour per AT. I later discovered that from that $40/hour rate we were charged, only $25/hour was actually going to the athletic trainers. It didn’t sit well with me that someone behind the scenes was taking over 30% from the ATs who were actually out there doing the hard work.

That money wasn’t going towards you, your clinical support, your mentorship, or educating the public about athletic trainers. It was a cut. A big one. That’s when I realized: the staffing company model is broken, and we needed to build something better — for athletic trainers.

The Hidden Cost of “Staffing”

Using my experience from above, let’s do the math to compare what you’d earn working one weekend tournament through a staffing company vs. Go4.

Now, let’s extrapolate that over an entire summer’s worth of work: 

That’s a $270 difference in just one weekend. Multiply that over the summer — say 8 tournaments — and that’s $2,160 in your pocket just by choosing to work for yourself on Go4.

Why Can Go4 Afford to Take Less? Simple: Technology.

Traditional staffing companies rely on regional account managers, schedulers, and recruiters—manual processes that drive up costs. Go4 is different. As a nationwide platform powered by smart, scalable technology, we eliminate the middleman and reduce administrative overhead. That’s why we can charge a minimal 3% platform fee—putting more money in athletic trainers’ pockets and keeping costs lower for job posters. Everyone wins.

Work on Go4, Not for Go4

A staffing company hires athletic trainers and assigns them jobs at set pay rates, keeping a large portion of the fee, while Go4 is a tech platform that connects ATs directly with job opportunities—letting them set their own rate, schedule, and keep more of what they earn.  

This is more than a paycheck. It’s financial empowerment.

Staffing companies tell you:

  • When to work
  • Where to work
  • What you’ll be paid

Go4 gives you:

  • The power to set your own rate
  • The freedom to choose your own schedule
  • The ability to decide how much you earn

You’re not working for a company — you’re working for yourself, using Go4 as your platform. It’s a mindset shift, and one that puts you back in control.

And that’s Why You’re Losing Money with Staffing Companies.