If you’ve never hired a contractor to work at your company, you might be wondering, “why do companies use contractors.” With the demand for technical professionals increasing, companies large and small are turning to contract staffing firms to help achieve their organizational goals. While there is no “one size fits all” answer to this question, there are a wide variety of reasons companies choose to hire contractors.
To Meet Tight Deadlines
One of the most common reasons our Fortune 1000 and startup clients cite regarding why they hired a contract professional is to meet tight deadlines. When companies have time-sensitive projects to complete, hiring a contractor makes sense for a variety of reasons.
One benefit of hiring a contractor is that the process is much faster than hiring a full-time permanent employee. Contract staffing firms have large databases of available technical professionals who are ready to work where and when companies need them. Contacting a staffing company, like Black Diamond Networks, saves companies the time and hassle of having to screen hundreds of candidates to find the right hire. A solid staffing partner will be able to quickly understand a company’s hiring needs and deliver the right candidate the first time.
Another benefit of hiring contractors to meet deadlines is that allows the hiring company to quickly expand their workforce without having to retain excess staff after the project has been completed. This gives companies an opportunity to forecast and control their costs, while still meeting organizational goals.
Highly-Specialized Hiring Needs
Some projects require highly-specialized professionals with hard-to-find skills. For many companies, these may be one-off, short-term needs that necessitate hiring a consultant for a short period of time.
Working with a contract staffing company gives firms access to highly-specialized professionals for a set time period and cost. Additionally, depending on where a company is located in the United States, it may be hard to find qualified consultants in their geographic area. Working with a staffing company gives hiring firms access to the consultants they need, regardless of where in the United States they live.
Increased Workloads and Load-Leveling
Hiring a technical consultant also makes good business sense for companies who experience seasonal or unexpected spikes in demand. Working with an established staffing outfit allows companies to actively manage their staffing levels to ensure they have the workforce that’s needed to navigate heightened workloads.
Hiring a consultant also gives companies a way to hedge against employee burnout. Contingent staffing allows organizations to hire the talent they need while spreading the additional work amongst a greater number of employees. This can give permanent employees a more equitable workload while reducing stress and improving work-life balance at the same time.
Contract employees are available on an as-needed basis, so employers aren’t burdened with an influx of full-time staff should the increased workload subside.
Control Costs
Simply put, money doesn’t grow on trees and hiring full-time employees can be a costly endeavor if they’re only needed for a known period of time. Between the hiring manager’s time and the cost of full-time employee benefits, it simply doesn’t make financial sense for many firms to hire permanent employees.
When a company hires a consultant, they do so for an agreed-upon rate and duration. This allows hiring companies to accurately predict the cost of bringing on a contingent staffer before the start of the assignment.
Hiring Freezes
Even some of the most established companies can experience events that necessitate a hiring freeze on full-time employees. Unexpected economic downturns, internal reorganizations, and mergers and acquisitions may lead company executives to stop hiring full-time employees for business functions that are considered non-essential.
Even during a hiring freeze, companies may be allowed to bring in contingent staffers for mission-critical technical roles. Hiring a consultant can be a great way for hiring managers to effectively navigate a hiring freeze on full-time staff while ensuring project goals and deadlines are met.
Leave of Absence or Illness
Life happens, and it can be hard for companies to prepare for unforeseen leaves of absence or unexpected illnesses. These vacancies, if left unfilled, can affect project deadlines, employee morale, and overall business success. Projects can even grind to a halt if the person taking leave has an especially unique skill set or knowledge that other team members lack.
Working with a contract staffing partner gives companies a way to quickly react to unforeseen events to minimize downtime and keep integral projects on track.
Need to hire a hire a contractor quickly?
There are just a few of the reasons that companies of all sizes turn to contingent staffing to meet the needs of their business. While it’s impossible to consistently expect and prepare for the unexpected, keeping a close relationship with a contract staffing firm can help companies ensure they have the access to the necessary resources should one of these situations arise.
At Black Diamond Networks, we’re the experts in technical staffing. With nearly 20 years of experience meeting clients needs in an effective and timely manner, we have top-notch technical professionals ready and able to work whenever and wherever they’re needed.
If your company is in dire need of technical professionals to meet an unforeseen absence or needs to hire a consultant for work on a time-sensitive project, contact us to speak with one of our account executives today! Get in touch with BDN at www.blackdiamondnet.com/find-talent or 1.800.681.4734.
