Five Reasons Why You Should Utilize IT Contractors for Your Tech Workforce

By Outside-In® Team Member Zach Werde

Are you struggling to find the IT talent that you need? Is your department or company adamant about filling open roles with direct hire staff? You may be putting yourself at a disadvantage by not considering the contingent workforce for your tech needs. Here are five reasons why:

1. A lot of the best resources are contractors. Many of the best “techies” actually prefer to be on a contract. Why? Because they understand that by consulting with a variety of different companies they are able to keep their skills sharp and cutting-edge. Who would you rather have on your team? Someone who has been using state of the art technology with a variety of your competitors for the last five years? Or would you rather have someone who has a fraction of the diversity because they spent the last five years working for the same company?

2. Many of these contractors are actually unwilling to take a permanent position. They don’t want to sit at the same company indefinitely and allow their skills to become obsolete or risk losing the value of their diverse background. They also know that if they are good, they will make more money as a contractor than they will on a salaried basis. They would love to consider a move to your organization on a contractual basis.

3. Instead of thinking of a contractor as a solution, why not think of them as a supplement? If you are having trouble finding the right people but desperately need the help, why not bring in a contractor to serve as a band aid until you eventually find the resource you need?

4. Consider the entire candidate pool. For some of the more “niche” needs, you may find a lot of your applicants are visa holders. This is because there is a gap in the US workforce of available IT workers. By refusing to consider some of these individuals for contract work, you may be ignoring as many as 90% of the qualified applicants.

5. Show me THE MONEY! One of the greatest misconceptions of all about IT contractors is that it is so much more expensive to bring on a contractor than to hire someone permanently. I will discuss these misconceptions in my next blog, which will be called “Show Me the Money.” Stay tuned!