The number of contingency workers, such as contractors and freelancers, has increased drastically in the last few years, especially since the covid-19 pandemic. More people are working for themselves and liaising with business owners directly to work on a non-contractual or short-term basis.
When a business owner has a job that needs doing, they have two options. They can either hire an in-house employee on a permanent basis or they can outsource the task to a contractor or freelancer.
What Are the Benefits of Hiring Contingency Workers?
There are millions of contractors and freelancers out there, so it can take a while to find the perfect person for the job. However, it’s often much more lucrative to spend the time finding expert contingency workers to outsource specific tasks than it is to hire an in-house employee.
Both contractors and freelancers can supplement the full-time workforce to improve work efficiency and quality. Outsourcing tasks enables business owners to access expert professionals with hard-to-find skills. You can learn about the differences between contingency workers and employees at https://www.servicenow.com/products/hr-service-delivery/what-is-a-contingent-worker.html.
Here are three benefits of hiring contractors and freelancers.
- Quicker to Hire
When an employer has a job that needs to be completed urgently, it’s much better to hire a contractor or freelancer. Recruiting and training permanent employees can take several weeks, which delays project completion.
Instead, the employer can hire a contingency worker that already has the necessary skill set to complete the job. They won’t need to spend as much money or time hiring the worker, which reduces costs without compromising on work quality.
- Less Risky
Hiring and retaining permanent employees can cost money and takes time. There’s always a risk of hiring the wrong person, which can cost you even more money and time if you need to terminate their contract in the future.
Once you’ve hired a bad employee, they can disrupt workflow, increase costs, and negatively impact company culture.
Outsourcing to contractors and freelancers carries a much lower risk. Even if they’re not the best employee for the job, they won’t interrupt in-house workflow or company culture.
It’s much easier to drop a contractor or freelancer once the project has been completed, as the employment contracts are temporary. I’m some cases, employers don’t even create official contracts for contingency workers.
- Expert Skills
Contractors and freelancers are often highly specialized individuals. They have a specific set of skills and they exceed in a particular area. For example, a contractor may specialize in construction project management or a freelancer might provide specialist social media management services.
It’s often much harder to find full-time employees with the same level of expertise in a specific area, so contingency workers may be a better choice for business owners. Should the contractor or freelancer surpass the employer’s expectations, they might wish to offer them permanent work.
