The world of IT contract staff
Employers perspective
For many years now IT has enjoyed and fully utilised the ‘Flexible Workforce’, commonly know as the IT Contract Market.
IT is a fundamental function supporting many industries and companies and it is continually changing as technology evolves and business requirements adapt to utilise the changes. This pattern has meant that IT demands have always been constantly fluctuating and many organisations have found it more economically viable to adjust their workforce accordingly.
Cases where this will happen include:
Consultancy
Where the company lacks in-house expertise in a particular area and needs guidance or where the company may need advice about strategy and what is available to improve their business.
Project Management
Most SME’s do not have projects running all the time, but when the need comes it is important to have the right skills onboard for that period. This will usually involve taking onboard skilled people such as Project Managers, Business Analysts, System Designers and System Testers for the period of the project.
Development
Many companies find it unfruitful to maintain a large number of programmers and therefore when a requirement for large amounts of coding is needed then they will go to the contract market.
Infrastructure
To maintain and support companies’ computer installations and networks it may only take a small number of Technical Support and Helpdesk personnel. However if the company believes it needs to upgrade they may bring in outside expertise to manage that situation.
Maternity Leave and/or Long Term Sickness
Self-explanatory in the sense that if an employer is suffering from short-term absenteeism in the workforce they can turn to the contract market to relieve that situation.
The negative side for the client is that they will have to go through a lengthy selection process including interviews and contract negotiations, probably with a recruitment agency and this will all add to the costs.
The Contractor Perspective
Firstly the contractor generally will earn a lot more money than a permanent member of staff, which is justified by his flexibility and the fact the company does not have to pay costs such as Employers NI, Sick Pay, Holiday Pay and perks such as pension contributions and company cars.
The negative side for the contractor is that he has to fund his own travel and training and he will always be uncertain of where the next contract is coming from. In a lot of cases the contractor maybe away from home for long periods and this can be damaging to family life.
The permanent staff member perspective
An IT ‘permie’ is similar to many employees in that he is interested in working for a company where he may have a career path through promotion and training paid for by his employer. He will take serious consideration of benefits and perks as well as salary and location.
A creature of habit, the ‘permie’ is the sort of person who is interested in the company and is comfortable going to the same place every working day and seeing the same people.
On the downside ‘permies’ may often find themselves in a situation where they may have contractors as subordinates and these people quite often will be earning more money than themselves. This has in many cases been known to cause friction and subsequently a threat to project success.
Employers perspective
Despite the clear benefit of using contractors, most companies still like to have their own permanent members of staff. They feel that it is good for reasons such as loyalty, continuity and understanding of the company business and ethos.
Summary
There is clearly a role for each type of employee within the IT industry and this process has worked successfully for many years.
About the author
Dave's experience covers all aspects of IT, operations management and project management. He has over 25 years of experience gained within the IT arena, 3 of which saw him involved in IT Outsourcing and 8 years in IT Recruitment.
Other articles by the author
Published
04 October 2006
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