By
Leanna Seah
May 9, 2022
Updated
January 20, 2025
Are you struggling to balance costs, quality, and flexibility in your workforce?
Reducing costs and increasing quality are critical in strategic planning and a healthy workforce is essential to achieving this.
In addition to permanent employees, business owners can also benefit from hiring specialised talent to fulfil their short-term needs.
COVID-19 compelled companies around the world to explore business models that prioritised flexibility.
By 2027, nearly half of the U.S. workforce will engage in some form of contract work." — Statista
In Airswift's 2022 GETI report, multiple sectors within the energy industry also attribute a globally mobile talent pool to the rising use of contractors.
Harvard Business School researchers also found that with 90% of companies hiring both full-time and freelance employees, the shift to an on-demand workforce will only continue to accelerate.
When the scenario calls for it, there are various advantages of hiring contractors over permanent staff. Our article aims to help readers better understand the benefits of working with specialist contractors.
Industries leading the way with contractors
Contractors are not just a solution for general staffing challenges; they play a vital role in addressing sector-specific needs.
Here are some industries that have embraced contractors as an integral part of their workforce:
- Energy and engineering: The energy sector leverages contractors to manage infrastructure upgrades and renewable energy projects, tapping into expertise that is difficult to source locally.
- Technology and software development: Tech companies rely on contractors for specialised roles such as cybersecurity analysts, data scientists, and cloud consultants, meeting demands for cutting-edge innovations.
- Retail and supply chain: Seasonal peaks in retail and logistics create a need for temporary workers, and contractors help manage fluctuating workloads seamlessly.
- Creative fields: Contractors in design, content creation, and digital marketing inject fresh ideas into branding and advertising campaigns.
These examples illustrate how different industries benefit uniquely from the flexibility and expertise that contractors provide.
When to consider hiring contractors for your business?
The decision to hire a worker as an employee or contractor is done on a case-by-case basis. Here are three questions to ask yourself when considering hiring a contractor.
- Can the job be completed on a short-term basis or within a defined time period?
- Does the job require a specialised skill set?
- Can the job be done with minimum supervision?
Businesses can save money
Cost savings are a major advantage that comes with hiring contractors. When a company hires full-time employers, a lot of its financial commitments go towards expenses such as:
- Worker’s compensation insurance
- Unemployment insurance
- Social security and Medicare
- Health insurance and paid time off
- Payroll taxes
- Income taxes
- Employment benefits
- Bonuses
- Productivity tools and office equipment
Increased flexibility and efficiency
As organisation adjust their processes to fit into the mould of a post-COVID business model, agility is essential. Using contractors can be advantageous in the face of fluctuating workloads, evolving organisational needs, and project uncertainties.
Rather than having to commit to the long-term requirements of permanent employees, contractors give businesses the flexibility to assess changes in the market and respond accordingly.
In practice, businesses can expand and contract their workforce as needed with a reduced long-term commitment.
Hiring a contract worker also grants businesses greater efficiency. Contractors bring specialised expertise to the job and can be productive immediately. Eliminating the time and additional costs of training new employees.
Reduce headaches when securing work visas and permits
How do you recruit the best possible candidates in locations where you have no footprint or physical entities? For businesses that want to hire overseas, hiring international workers as contractors can help to minimise any complications surrounding visa applications, work permits and payroll.
An alternative to this is for companies to partner with an EOR. An EOR will be able to assume the role of the international employee's legal employer and shoulder all responsibilities related to HR and compliance.
For companies that opt to do this, it is essential that you take the necessary measures to avoid misclassifying your employees as the penalties can be harsh. Working with a GEM expert will be able to help you ensure that you stay compliant with the labour laws of the countries that you choose to hire in.
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Opportunity to test run employees and roles
Searching for high-quality permanent candidates can take a long time and even once a hire is made, it doesn't automatically guarantee that your new hire will be a good fit.
Hiring an employee on a contract basis lets you trial run them for permanent roles and assess how they respond to the company environment as well as their responsibilities.
This lower-risk, highly flexible method of trialling employees has become an increasingly popular practice when hiring for senior positions. As these positions often come with larger compensation packages and decision-making roles, companies need to know, more than ever, that they're hiring the right person for the job.
This method allows a business to acutely observe the employee's performance before offering them permanent employment.
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Brings fresh perspectives to the table
Due to their experience in working with multiple clients, contractors often have a lot more exposure to different companies and working environments. This means that they can often bring unique perspectives and insights to the projects they're involved in.
Their lack of connection to the company also gives them the advantage of being able to assess a problem from a purely objective standpoint and contribute effective solutions that go beyond the status quo.
A contractor's separation from a business also puts them in a position to facilitate decision making and implement new strategies without having to worry about any internal biases.
Hire the best talent for your business with Airswift
We are an international workforce solutions provider and strategic partner to the energy, process and infrastructure industries. Our level of experience, exposure and expertise is unparalleled and we support both contractors and permanent recruitment. Human resources is in our DNA.
Contingent workforce and temporary staffing can play an integral part in your long-term strategy. Our Contract Hire offerings include:
- Onboarding, induction, and orientation meetings
- A comprehensive benefits package (dependent on location)
- New employee safety orientation
- Workplace safety training
- Payroll consultant
- Client service consultant
- Contractor care service consultant
- Compliance and risk management team
