Contract, temporary and freelance workers are gaining in popularity vs. their permanent equivalents. Their specialist skills, immediate availability, and reduced costs are, more than ever, valued by companies looking to cover skill shortages, deliver short-term projects and provide parental leave and holiday cover.
What are the benefits of hiring on-demand workers?
Contract, temporary and freelance workers – AKA on-demand workers – offer companies many advantages over permanent employees, including:
– Immediate availability which radically reduces time-to-hire.
– The ability to ‘buy in’ the specialist skills and expertise of a vast (and growing) pool of on-demand professionals for the duration of a specific project. For example, if you need the services of a coding expert, graphic designer, and copywriter to launch your new website, you can pay for their expert services to complete the project. Once the project is finished – and you no longer need the skills of your freelancers – they will move on to their next challenge with their next company. No strings!
– It’s much cheaper to hire an on-demand vs. a permanent worker. Companies only have to pay for the services rendered for a finite period of time without having to add in costly employment benefits and onboarding costs.
What are the disadvantages of hiring on-demand workers?
– While on-demand workers don’t require a huge onboarding programme, project owners need to invest some time ensuring that they’re clear about their objectives and deadlines as well as the business practices expected of them to achieve them. You need to regularly check in with your freelancers to ensure that progress remains on track. Good, regular communication is key.
– Related employment regulations and administrative tasks can be difficult to keep on top of. But it’s easy to counter the risks by outsourcing the employment of temporary workers and contractors to experienced, professional recruitment agencies, such as ABL Recruitment. We’ll take on much of the legal and administrative burden, saving you swathes of time and delivering peace of mind.
If your organisation is considering freelance, temporary, or contract workers to plug a skills shortfall, deliver a short-term project or provide parental leave or holiday cover, please get in touch. Whatever your requirements, we will quickly match them to talented, best-fit, available on-demand workers. We interview all our candidates thoroughly and check their right-to-work credentials and passports to further accelerate the process and ensure suitability.
We have a proven track record of delivering great candidates quickly, cost-effectively, and with great hiring outcomes. Approximately 30% of our temps are taken on by their temporary employers as permanent staff, bearing testament to the quality of our candidates. Learn more about the benefits of working with our team of experts for on-demand roles here.
For further reading on the topic, please read our Businesses turn to flexible workers as the skills shortage worsens article or visit Business.com.
