Industry Insight

The Value of Short-Term Contract Resources

Short-term organizational problems can create long-term issues that plague your business for years. While they may initially seem like small, short-term issues, things like work backlogs, the departure of a valued employee, or an unexpected busy season can get in the way of how your company runs. It can also lower the profitability of your enterprise in the coming months and years. Unfortunately, since these problems can come up at a moment’s notice, an organization may not have a plan to address them.

In these situations, the value of bringing in temporary technical skilled resources can’t be underestimated. Instead of staffing up with extra employees that you don’t need in the long term or changing operations to accomplish short-term goals, bringing in temporary help can be easier and more affordable. With these resources in place for a few months or years, the company can stay the course and get through these kinds of difficulties.

Why Bring In Short-Term Contract Resources?

Statistics show that over 40 million people in the United States are part of the temporary labor workforce. This workforce includes technical workers and software developers with knowledge of in-demand skills like application development, network engineering, security engineering, and quality assurance.

Many of these candidates are experienced, educated workers who can bring the skills needed to your enterprise without expecting a long-term commitment from your company. One in five of these candidates cite schedule flexibility as a reason for choosing to do this kind of work. Since working for you as a short-term employee may be a good fit for them, it’s a win-win for your company as well as the candidate.

However, finding, vetting, and hiring these people can be time-intensive for your in-house team if you’ve never done this before. Qualified candidates may prefer to take assignments through a firm they know and trust, where they have an established relationship. Using a technical staffing firm to get help quickly can be convenient and efficient for both you and the candidate. Finding the right help is crucial for companies that need to complete short-term goals without impacting long-term operations and expenses.

Key Advantages of Short-Term Contract Resources

Using short-term contract skilled employees is a strategy used by many businesses to accomplish short-term goals without changing the long-term plans of the company. Some of the key advantages of bringing in short-term contract help might include:

Immediate value to the organization

Instead of waiting until next year to see the financial results of a project, temporary resources can bring value and cut costs within the same quarter. This helps increase the likelihood of achieving the short-term goals of the organization, which can be helpful for companies that have shareholders to report back to regularly.

Complete tasks and catch up on backlogged work

With a limited number of skilled employees in house, specialized tasks can get backed up easily. This can spell doom for small organizations looking to make an impression by taking on large orders or expanding business lines. Instead of putting all this backlogged work in the hands of a few skilled employees, temporary workers can get these tasks completed quickly. This helps eliminate the backlog and reduces stress on in house employees.

No long-term commitment, costs, or additional full-time employment (FTE) headcount

While some organizations take a literal headcount, a more accurate way to assess the number of employees on staff is by performing an FTE headcount. This is measured as the total of all positions that exist in the company using the percentage of the appointment, rather than the number of individual employees. Using contract resources keeps FTE low and preserves your long-term resources as an organization.

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