3 Ways Independent Contractors Are Cost-Effective

There are many advantages to incorporating independent contractors into your workforce strategy. Many of these benefits center around cost savings. Independent talent, for example, can offer staffing flexibility and access to skills that might be hard to find among your existing employee base.

These financial factors are the motivation for many businesses today to engage independent workers. Below, we take a look at three cost-savings benefits independent professionals can bring to your business.

1. Access In-Demand Skills

Companies today report having difficulty finding employees who have the skills they need. However, this new work environment has created an ideal landscape for people who have decided to build careers off of the specialized expertise they offer clients.

This highly-educated and credentialed group of talent can help to fill skill gaps in a company’s workforce, bringing their knowledgeable expertise to the table when and where it is needed most. Because they are experts in their respective fields, independent contractors can help companies save both time and money on training, onboarding, and management.

2. Flexible Talent Management

Engaging an independent contractor to contribute specific skills to a project, help develop a new line of business, or assist in building out a new market is often much more cost-effective than spending the time and resources to recruit a full-time employee for the same need. Hiring a new full-time employee or even upskilling an existing employee can quickly add to payroll costs.

With independent professionals, businesses don’t have to worry about costly benefits packages or the expectation of continued employment after a large project is completed. And independents can be found in virtually every industry from IT, marketing, and sales to education, healthcare and consulting.

3. Combine Workforce Expertise

Independent professionals often work together in teams, bringing combined expertise to a business to complete large projects or solve big-question problems. A team of independent talent can approach a project request from all different angles, contributing multiple viewpoints, areas of expertise, and fresh perspectives.

The majority of independent talent, whether they work individually or as a team, will have a set bill rate that you can see ahead of time and will work with you to create a contract that defines the scope, methodology, requirements, and total cost of a project. Overall, independents tend to be very cost-effective resources because they can be engaged for a set period of time and can contribute specific expertise that may be difficult to recruit for or find among your current employee base.

Up next: 5 Reasons to Hire Independent Contractors