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Are contractors better value than permies?

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    Are contractors better value than permies?

    At my current gig they have brought in several contractors recently, on pretty decent rates. Do these reasons make a contractor better value than a perm?
    Contractors:
    1) Have more varied experience at different ways of doing things at different types of companies and across industries
    2) Are more highly motivated as money is less an issue for them and they can concentrate on the job at hand
    3) Are more highly motivated as they have little time to get up to speed and to prove themselves capable of delivery
    4) Have more attention to detail and focus on quality as they want to build relationships with Clients and don't want to burn and bridges
    5) Quickly pick up new skills as they have become adept at responding to different market conditions

    All in all, would the above (and perhaps you can suggest more) mean it often makes more sense to hire external expertise to deliver a project?

    #2
    Contractors can be used to fill immediate requirements for qualified resources without the time and expense normally needed to recruit full time employees, and can be readily dismissed once those requirements have been met.

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      #3
      Are hookers better value than wives?

      Comment


        #4
        Yes. Next!
        What happens in General, stays in General.
        You know what they say about assumptions!

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          #5
          Originally posted by NorthWestPerm2Contr View Post
          1) Have more varied experience at different ways of doing things at different types of companies and across industries
          No reason why that isn't equally true of a permie.

          2) Are more highly motivated as money is less an issue for them and they can concentrate on the job at hand
          Eh? Someone who needs the job more is more motivated, not less.

          3) Are more highly motivated as they have little time to get up to speed and to prove themselves capable of delivery
          That makes no sense. Most permie jobs have a trial period that's shorter than the typical contract.

          4) Have more attention to detail and focus on quality as they want to build relationships with Clients and don't want to burn and bridges
          See 2.

          5) Quickly pick up new skills as they have become adept at responding to different market conditions
          See 1.

          What else have you got?
          Will work inside IR35. Or for food.

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            #6
            Permanent requirement easily filled in the jobs market - permie
            Temporary requirement not requiring many skills - temp role from agency or job centre
            Temporary requirement requiring specialist skills - contractor

            Permanent requirement not filled but immediately issues - contractor

            Everything else depends on the quality of the employee / contractor.... both may hit all 5 of your comments or none of them and I've seen utterly crap people as contractors and utterly brilliant ones as permies..
            merely at clientco for the entertainment

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              #7
              Sometimes.
              Originally posted by MaryPoppins
              I'd still not breastfeed a nazi
              Originally posted by vetran
              Urine is quite nourishing

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                #8
                TBH I don't agree with any of them on the whole. Most certainly got a fairly contractor and personal bias on it.

                You also forget long term knowledge drain as the contractors leave and also the fact they can leave mid gig or not accept raises. Little or no commitment to the client and work past the piece of work in hand yadda yadda. Not a very realistic view if the situation at all.
                'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

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                  #9
                  It's all swings and roundabouts, I worked with some dreadful contractors at Sky and couldn't believe what they were charging. You could have gotten a permie to do a better job for a lot less.
                  In Scooter we trust

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                    #10
                    Do bears sh1t in the woods ?

                    Comment

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