In business, as in life, you’re often limited by what options you have available to you. This is especially the case for companies when they’re attempting to secure the best and brightest people. The goal, of course, is to recruit and then hire the best candidates and then transition them so they can put their skills to work and make the company more profitable.
Unfortunately, hiring workers on a direct-hire basis only often limits the options. In other words, it prohibits companies from benefiting fully from what the workforce has to offer in terms of personnel and human capital. However, by hiring contractors to supplement their full-time workforce, companies can effectively create more options and take full advantage of the talent that’s available.
There are a number of ways in which hiring workers on a contract basis allows can create options. In essence, they all involve providing companies with access to more of the candidates they want, but without the restraints and costs often associated with hiring them on a full-time basis. First and foremost, contracting helps you to expand staffing alternatives:
1. Access a pool of highly skilled contractors from all across the country.
2. Contractors are often more specialized, but unavailable for direct-hire placements. As a result, tapping into their knowledge and skills can only be done through contracting.
3. Retiree re-staffing allows companies to utilize the expertise of workers that have reached retirement age without affecting pension and benefit plans.
4. Through 1099 conversion, independent contractors can become W-2 employees of a back-office service provider for the purpose of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) compliance.
5. The ability to reduce administrative responsibilities… not to mention associated costs.
The creation of these options through contracting can provide companies with much needed flexibility. No matter what your specific situation, alternatives such as contract staffing can serve to greatly alleviate hiring pressures due to economic complexities such as budget constraints.
Stress the advantages and benefits of contracting—namely the creation of more options and greater flexibility—with your clients, and let them know that you can meet their contract staffing needs.
