Why Consider Contingent Staffing?

With the ongoing labor crisis and talent shortage, companies should prioritize optimizing cost-efficient and productive staff now more than ever. You may ask yourself: Why consider full-time staffing? Or, why consider contingent staffing? Optimizing staffing efforts means assessing your business needs to determine when to hire full time versus contingent staff.  

Contingent workers can be freelancers, independent contractors, and consultants that temporarily supplement a company’s workforce. Although hiring full-time employees can be beneficial for fulfilling long-term goals, many businesses are looking for flexibility and specialized skills when solving short-term problems. One report shows that 80% of large U.S. corporations plan to increase their use of a flexible workforce in the future. Furthermore, 62% of enterprises reported that contingent staff are a vital component of their overall workforce. As businesses face new challenges every day, learning how to find the best staffing for your company’s needs can help with problem solving and productivity. 

Benefits of Contingent Staffing

Flexibility and Short-Term Goals

Depending on the needs of your company, contingent staffing can provide unique perspectives to an organization. In today’s labor market, many companies are finding it increasingly difficult to find workers with critical and specific skill sets. Hiring a temporary worker can help fill the gaps within those deficiencies, especially in a project-by-project working environment. For example, this can look like hiring a consultant or contractor when tech projects become too advanced for in-house skills. With today’s rapidly changing economy, businesses will need to assess their progress as market conditions change and companies grow. Temporary staffing allows that flexibility to help companies as their needs change and new projects come along.  

Cost Savings

A recent study found that the cost of hiring full-time over contract workers in IT was much more expensive and that it is estimated that typical mid-level employees require 6 months to reach their breakeven point. Contracting a temporary worker for a project means only paying them for as long as they are needed, and they do not receive typical full-time benefits – such as health care, paid leave, or pension contributions – which can add up to quite an expense. Your company can also save money by avoiding costs associated with internal training. If skills are only needed for the immediate short-term, a contact worker is the ideal route to take with limited costs and risks. 

Quicker Hires 

Contingent staffing can also streamline a seamless hiring process. Hiring full-time and contract workers can be a difficult and complicated process, from an extensive interview and recruitment process to onboarding and training. With contingent staffing, the best contractors will be credible and distinctive within their skillsets and are often readily available, cutting interview time costs by over 50%. Along with an easier hiring process, contractors can be used as a trial run for a potential full-time hire. Hiring employees on a temporary basis allows companies to see if they will be successful with the company in the long term. This can mitigate the risk of hiring a potentially poorly performing employee.  

Looking Forward 

Choosing between full-time versus contingent staffing comes down to doing what is best for your company. As the business world becomes increasingly fast paced, contingent staff could open a new door for your business. When looking into recruitment and hiring processes, consider the overarching needs of your company and the most cost-effective and strategic way of approaching them.