Contractors: The Hidden Advantage To Your IT Projects
Anyone who owns or manages a technology business knows that one of the most difficult parts of the job is hiring and recruiting skilled employees. Traditionally, senior IT managers are often in charge of hiring software developers and other professionals in this area because they understand the skills that are required to do the job. While this makes sense, the traditional method of hiring permanent employees is often time-consuming and fraught with challenges.
Instead of following this traditional hiring process, more and more senior IT managers are hiring contractors to ensure complex software development projects are finished on time and on budget.
Generally speaking, the contractor model is fairly straightforward. It usually begins with the initial recognition that a software company does not have the skill set or workforce to complete a project they are responsible for. Back in the old days the senior IT manager would then have to spend hours scrolling through Workopolis or Monster to find some potential contractors who seemed like the right fit before setting up interviews. This was often very time-consuming and no better than the traditional hiring process used by HR departments.
Today it’s much different. A quality IT recruitment company specializing in contractors can do the work for you. In essence, they find out what the senior IT manager is looking for and vet potential contractors before they are even put in front of the client. The aim is to limit the amount of time senior IT managers have to spend reviewing candidates’ resumes and interviewing, leaving them to focus on running their IT projects.
Not only is it easier to hire contractors than ever before, the benefits of hiring a contractor are also worth noting. For starters, hiring a contractor can be cost-effective because you can hire a contractor to complete a specific project, rather than hiring a full-time permanent employee.
In fact, the biggest cost for most companies is their payroll, so keeping a company’s payroll in check is often the best way to protect a company’s bottom line. On top of this, a contractor is a fixed expense that is simply paid like any other invoice.
While it might seem more expensive at first, in the long run when you calculate a permanent employee’s salary, benefits and insurance premiums, adding an employee to your payroll can be a lot more expensive. These hidden costs are often ignored by hiring managers when they are hiring a permanent employee, but they can quickly add up. With a contractor there are no hidden costs or financial surprises.
Another benefit of hiring a contractor is the speed at which you can hire someone. With the traditional method of hiring an employee it can often take weeks, if not months to hire an employee. This can jeopardize a project’s deadline, create lost opportunity costs, lead to penalty fees and even damage your company’s reputation.
By hiring a contractor this choice can also help buy a company more time so they can find a permanent employee with the right skill set. A contractor can also step in when a team is overwhelmed with work. This extra help can improve employee morale and reduce the likelihood that your other employees will burnout and quit when you need them most.
Hiring a contractor can also provide a company with workforce flexibility. In other words, you can quickly add them to a project or end their contract if they aren’t a good fit. In some cases a contractor might be the perfect fit and lead to a permanent position. It also gives the contractor an opportunity to get a better understanding about the job and what it entails so they can decide if they want to join your team or not.
Whatever the case may be, having workforce flexibility minimizes the risk to your company because you can easily terminate a contractor if they aren’t working out, whereas it is much more difficult to fire a permanent employee.
If you are a senior IT hiring manager that is struggling to find the right talent, or has a software project that needs help, I would highly recommend hiring a contractor. You will likely be surprised by how straightforward it is and how much talent is out there.
We’ve built up decades of expertise in the IT contractor space and have processes and systems in place to aid our clients with hiring and keeping the best contractor talent. Contact us today to see how we can share our many years and roster of client success with you and help your next AI project succeed.