Hiring contract employees has become one of the most popular ways to acquire new talent. 20-30% of the current US and EU workforce is made up of independent contract employees. This number is expected to increase in the coming years as, according to McKinsey Global Institute, 42% of executives plan to increase hiring of contractors. Some experts are even estimating that nearly half of the workforce will be made up of contract employees in a decade.
When trying to hire contract employees however, it is important to understand who they are AND what they are looking for out of their next job. With Visium Resources’ over 200 years of combined experience in the recruitment industry, we have the knowledge to know how to target and recruit them for your company. If you are looking for a contractor, here are 11 things you should consider.
Most Contractors are experienced, but you can find entry level.
Data shows that a quarter of current contractors have been in their careers for over 16 years. However, the most common level of experience is around 5-9 years, with a full 27% of contract employees showing that level of experience. As the data shows however, under 4 years of experience still shows a marked number of qualified workers with 31% being anywhere from 0-4 years of work experience.
IT, Media and Communications have the highest concentration
The data shows that these fields hire the most contract positions. We here at Visium Resources certainly find this to be true with many of our skilled recruiters working on staffing various software developer and other IT related positions daily. Education and corporate services also come near the top of industries with the most contract workers. While these contract employees may be expensive, they bring a usually extensive amount of knowledge and skills that can be applied toward a special project or time sensitive need.
Most contract employees value excellent pay, work-life balance and benefits
Not unsurprisingly, 64% of contract workers on LinkedIn said that it was important that a job has a high level of compensation. However, a similar number said that work-life balance was the most important thing to them in a job. This may be a key selling point when posting a job description when looking for a contract position. Based on LinkedIn’s data, we see that about two-fifths of contractors say other factors are a priority. Such as: a good culture fit, ability to make an impact and working at a place where they feel proud to work.
Common skills center around: marketing, project management and planning
When analyzing LinkedIn profiles of current contract employees, many of their skills fall under the umbrella of promotion, business building and project management/training.
Tech skills are becoming more and more common among contract employees
The market is demanding technology skills more commonly in today’s industries, and as such contractors are developing these skills in order to keep up with demand. Tech and data skills such as SQL, data analysis and HTML dominate the top of the fastest growing skills.
Companies are most in need of contract employees with tech skills like mySQL and jQuery
If you are looking to hire a contract employee to handle these areas, or other technical skills, you should expect lots of competition. Demand is rapidly rising and it is often the case of this demand outpacing the supply of qualified contractors in these fields. Demand of employees who have experience in social media, web development and digital marketing are drastically rising as well, which may make it harder to hire workers with these skills in the future. If you are looking to hire for any of these technical positions, it would be wise to consult a recruiting firm, like Visium Resources, to assist you in locating and hiring the best candidate for your needs.
With contract workers becoming a more visible and important part of today’s workforce, working with a staffing firm hire employees is more valuable than ever. Visium Resources long and successful history of finding and supplying excellent contract employees gives you a huge advantage when you are looking to hire a new contract employee. No matter what type of contractor you are looking to hire, we are in the business of finding you talent to complete your projects. Whatever your needs, Visium Resources is here for you!
