What You Should Know About: Contract Staffing – PART II

WELCOME TO WYSKA… (What You Should Know About…)

This is an educational series that we hope will introduce you to many basic concepts and some industry jargon as well as expose you to the culture and industry status quo.

Today we’re going to scratch the surface of contract employment! Contract employment is becoming increasingly common in today’s workforce. Many industries outside the norm,  are beginning to understand the value in bringing in team members for roles that are “mission-critical.” so the opportunities are abundant and flowing.

Andres Rodriguez of ace Talent Curators, a recruitment agency focused specifically on contract employment, shares a few basics you should know about contract employment.

The GIG Economy

The gig economy is a free market economy comprised of independent workers who adhere to short-term contracts for employment. This is where you find freelancers and independent contractors. Basically, a gig economy is where employment is based on contractually-bound and functionally-focused “gigs” over indefinite employment.

One thing to note is that the gig economy is driving contract employment awareness and familiarity right now. Technically, the contractor is an employee of the staffing company. The staffing company is essentially lending out the talent.

Are there certain industries that cater to contract and interim employment?

As of now, yes, but it’s more important to mention that it caters more to certain functions rather than certain industries.

Historically, contract staffing has been the most prominent in Tech/IT and Finance. If you’re in a recession and you know that regardless of how many more people you hire you aren’t going to increase sales, you still need to keep your books. It is well known that the CFO is the last one to go. Industries like IT/Tech and Finance address and perform functions that must be carried out regardless of the time of business or volume of business.

Companies are now seeing the value in commercial roles, operational roles, and HR.

Definitely we are seeing an uptake in the C-suite.

Any industry where there are peaks and valleys in the workload can cater to short-term employment. In finance, there are busier times (e.g. tax season) in which case companies may want to take on additional team members to support the increased workload.

There is also opportunity in an advisory way. Perhaps a company must mechanize it’s supply chain further to allow for Black Friday.

What are some FAQs you would like to clear up?

How does conversion fees work?

Conversions are opportunities to try a talent before making the full hiring decision and often work on a schedule. The schedule is set up so that the longer you have the short term employee on contract at your business, the more cost effective it is for the company typically to hire him or her on a permanent basis.

How do you negotiate when you are a contractor? Besides fee, what else is there to negotiate for?

Well just the hourly essentially. Often times the staffing company can offer the contractor benefits. The payroll company associated with the staffing agency has the ability to facilitate and provide some form of benefits through that third party payroll company.  The tend to be more expensive but it is an option.