Talent shortage is a reality recruiters face every single day. On one hand, businesses are thriving in a dynamic setup that makes resource estimates difficult. There are growth spurts powered by global demand and digitalization, creating huge talent gap. On the other hand, people are choosing the remote, independent life over the 9 to 5. The full-time employee pool is reducing drastically. Desperate enough, companies compromise and commit to wrong hires, costing them dearly.
Now is the time to change the way they recruit. Contract staffing is a strategic move that can overcome staffing woes and increase profitability. Let’s learn about contract staffing advantages and why 2021 is a good time to start looking at it.
What is contract staffing?
Contract staffing is a type of talent acquisition whereby a company recruits a skilled individual on specific contract terms – usually on hourly basis. Contract staff is hired for short-term or long-term projects on full-time or part-time commitment with clear terms of engagement.
Why move to contract staffing in 2021?
Hiring talent with specialized skills is easy
Imagine you have a client project that requires developers with machine learning skills. You can get this specialized skillset by bringing on board a contract staff. He can stay for the duration of the project and then move on. You don’t have to invest in a full-time staff with skills you probably won’t need in future.
It is far easy to find an independent contractor with specialised skills than it is to find a full-time employee. People with valued skillsets prefer to work on an hourly basis to maximize the return on their time.
Contract staff is better than outsourcing
When you don’t have certain skill set in-house and don’t have the power to attract the right talent, you might hire agencies to outsource the work. You can get work done but you will lose control and there could be data security concern. A better solution is to hire a contract staff – he is bound by the paper terms and works as well as an employee. You retain control too!
There is no paid time-off
You save a great deal with a contract staffing arrangement. Let’s break this down. You don’t pay for the typical hiring costs – platform fees, payrolling, compliances, statutory etc. You don’t have to part with any benefits like health insurance or provident fund. What’s more? You pay only for the hours they work. So, there is no time-off! Overall, it is big savings.
You can get over training hassles
Often companies spend time in upskilling their internal resources for specialized jobs. These employees can move on at any time and the training cost is wasted. If you need a particular skill-set on temporarily or only for a specific project, it makes sense to hire a readily available independent contractor. The ROI is far better than internal upskilling.
You get a trial run
Hiring a perm employee is commitment. You are going to incur upfront onboarding and training costs. What if they don’t turn out to be a good fit? It is money down the drain. When you hire a contract staff, you reduce the risk. You get to sign up for three months or six months to see their performance, before making any big commitment. You can also walk away after end of term without any PR damage. Assess skills as well as culture fit with smaller commitments to contract staff.
You can flex as you need
If you overstaff and keep people on bench, you are signing paychecks you shouldn’t. If you understaff, you won’t have resources for your revenue goals. You walk a thin rope. Would you rather overstaff or understaff? Staff just right with additional resources filled in by contract staff. You won’t be wasteful, and you can get work done. Hiring and firing perm employees is a bad strategy. Hiring on contracts and not renewing when the need is met, is just plain businesses.
Where can you start your contract staffing journey?
You can try recruitment agencies specialised in contract staffing as they have a ready pool to get you started on the right foot. Alternatively, you can try theflexiport.com for free access to such talent. As long as you are convinced about the advantages – flexible hiring, reduced costs, and increased profitability, you only have to find the right staffing partner.
