How IoT Organizations Win With the Right Contractors
Over the past decade, the tech sector has grown exponentially thanks in large part to thousands of new Internet of Things (IoT) organizations. This has created a red-hot labour market that can make it difficult for senior IT hiring managers to recruit and retain the right talent.
IoT refers to a network of physical objects or “things” that are embedded with unique identifiers to transfer and exchange data with other devices and systems over the internet.
These devices range from ordinary household objects, such as a smart thermostat or a smartwatch, to more sophisticated systems such as smart cities. With more than 10 billion connected IoT devices today, experts are expecting this number to grow to more than 22 billion devices by 2025.
Strikes Against Start-ups?
Given this explosion in growth, IoT companies have been struggling for years to try and find the right employees. One of the reasons is because a lot of small to medium size tech companies can’t compete with big tech companies, such as Apple, Facebook and Amazon. These large, multinational tech companies are flush with cash and have the ability to provide lucrative salaries that other tech companies simply can’t afford.
On top of this, potential employees will often check third-party review sites about the company from previous employees. For companies with a few bad reviews, this can be a painful lesson and hinder their ability to attract top talent.
As a result, many senior IT hiring managers are turning to contractors to help them complete their projects on time and on budget.
Considering Contractors
For starters, when you use a recruitment service to hire a contractor it is a much more efficient process because the recruiter will sift through dozens of applications before selecting a few potential candidates that you might be interested in hiring. This can save you countless hours and reduce your workload.
IT Contractors don’t often need a lot of additional training because they usually already have the technical skills that are required to complete the job. This shortens the amount of time they need to “get settled” and start being productive. This can be extremely helpful if a project has stalled or has fallen behind schedule.
Contractors are often exposed to a range of other projects and companies. This means they can often provide unique insight and solutions that they’ve learned from previous projects teams they’ve worked for. This can be extremely helpful if the project is challenging, complex or will result in a product that is for a competitive market.
Money Isn’t Everything
When it comes to costs, contractors are usually more expensive per hour, however, it’s important to remember that you don’t have to pay them for their vacation time, benefits or contribute to their pension plan.
On top of this, hiring a contractor can help fill a short-term need and avoids having to add a permanent employee to your payroll. This can save your company a lot of money over the long term. In addition to this, hiring a contractor is often a great way to test an employee and can lead to a longer-term relationship if he or she is the right fit.
Next Steps for IoT Hiring Managers
Being a part of an industry that is consistently moving new concepts and ideas forward, I’d urge you to consider the contractor idea as a real solution to your hiring problem. Not only do they have the right skills and experience, but they are also relatively quick to hire and this can help keep your project on time and on budget.
We’ve built up decades of expertise in the software 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.