What is Contract Hiring?
In the simplest of words, contractual hiring defines employing a person for the completion of a particular project. An example could be hiring a programmer for developing a company’s web application. Upon the completion of the task, the contract staff could either move on to a different project in the same company, or switch companies.
Why do businesses consider contract staff as opposed to full time staff? Well, there could be multiple reasons, ranging from quick hiring to reduced expenditures to acquiring highly-skilled staff. Consider an example where the business is tremendously growing, however it still has not reached the stage to hire more full-time employees. So what does it do? It hires people on a contractual basis. Once the contract gets over, the company bids goodbye to its employee; unless they plan to absorb him or her.
10 Amazing Benefits of Contract Hiring for Candidates and Companies
The changing times in the market have given birth to contract staffing services to increase exponentially, today. Why? One of the prime reasons is the shift in trend from full-time hiring to contract-hiring. Why? Some straight-forward simple reasons are cost reduction, dynamism and flexibility in assigning the right man for the right job.
Companies want to pick up the line of benefits which comes along with contract hiring, and therefore the contract staffing companies in India are also on a boom. The 21st century’s companies have taken a back seat, and passed the driving seat to staffing companies for on boarding high-quality contract employees.
Let us check out the 10 amazing benefits of contract hiring, both for candidates and companies!
- Right Man for the Right Job – Contract staffing services offer companies the right candidate for the right project. With full time employees, companies often face difficulty when a candidate lacks the aptitude to perform a job. Through contract hiring, candidates have the liberty to choose projects as per their expertise and skill-set.
- Say Hello to Flexibility – Both companies and candidates are free souls associated through a temporary marriage, in contract hiring. An easy divorce is possible, in cases when their expectations and acceptance do not match. Hence, companies and candidates have the flexibility in changing each other to a much greater extent.
- Reduce That Additional Costing – There’s a huge cost attached to hiring a full time employee. In addition to that, a company incurs huge amounts in the necessary benefits given, for instance, family leaves, maternity leaves, casual leaves etc. Make way for the right staffing solutions, welcome contract hiring and say good bye to these additional costs for both, companies and candidates.
- Aggressive Adaptability – Contract staff have higher exposure to different markets, and therefore adaptability to any project is much quicker. On the other hand, sometimes new full-time staff might face hardships of absorbing themselves in the new company environment.
- Make Quick Hiring Possible – Contract staffing companies in India are on the rise and hence hiring contract staffs is a quick affair. Contract staffs too are much more likely to be available for a new project on shorter notice, as compared to full time ones.
- Full Time Opportunities – Staffing solutions like contract hiring allow companies to test potential future candidates. Likewise, sometimes, contractors want to test the prospects of full time engagement with the company and hence opt for a contractual relationship first.
- Welcome, Skill-Set – Contractors work hard toward acquiring and nurturing a particular skill-set. Such possession of high value skill-set makes it more favourable for them to get acquired for temporary projects on a regular basis. Companies invite highly skilled contractors to run skill-specific projects.
- Higher Salary and Lower Benefits – According to the Wall Street Journal, contractors make up to 40% more per hour, when compared with their full-time counterparts. Companies on the other hand, are not required by law to provide contractors with benefits. Thus, it’s an ideal situation, both for contractors and companies.
- Manage Taxes Freely – By law, contractors are required to manage their own taxation. Hence, it gives them the liberty to act more entrepreneurial with respect to managing taxation. On the other hand, companies’ responsibilities are reduced with respect to taxation liabilities of contractors. It’s a big win-win for the candidates and the companies.
- An array of contractual hiring relationship – Lastly, contract hiring exists in various forms, viz., part-time contract, fixed-term contract, consultation and freelancing, agency staff, zero hour contract and voluntary employment. Therefore, both companies and candidates have the liberty to establish pre-defined relationships with each other.
Contract hiring is not the cure-all for the gap in demand and supply of skilled workers. However, it still is an effective alternate to direct hiring, in the current times. Like two sides to a coin, it does come with certain cons stringed to it. Nevertheless, the pros attached to contract hiring far outweigh the cons.
Which one would you prefer?