What is Contingent Worker? 

The term contingent worker refers to a person who works temporarily in a company or organization without being hired.

Contingent workers are hired for a specific project and may be hired on a contract basis. Contingent workers can be hired for specific tasks or on a full-time basis.

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Contingent workers are hired for temporary labor services. In most cases, they are hired for a specific project and may be hired on a contract basis. Contingent workers can be hired on for specific tasks or on a full-time basis.

Examples of contingent workers include:

• Independent contractors
• Freelancers
• Consultants
• Temporary workers employed by a staffing agency or other third party and assigned to work for your organization

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Advantages of Contingent Workers

let us jump into the benefits of contingent workers.

Fill skill gaps quickly

With your company and tech growing, it becomes a necessity to increase your hiring. The hiring process, however, is easier said than done. 

Hire diverse and expert professionals 

Hiring such a diverse array of individuals across borders brings in unique thought-provoking perspectives to grow your business. More often than not, innovation is what a business needs more than talent. 

Endure a flexible employment model

With the market constantly changing and becoming more competitive, your company must be agile and fluid to stay adept. 

Reduce costs

Hiring, an essential aspect of a growing business, is inevitable. Choosing contingent workers for short terms and on a project-bases gets you off the hook financially. You just pay for what you get done without accommodating the unproductive hours and only as long as you need them.

Avoid complexities during tax filings

As an employer, you must take care of your employees’ taxes and abide by the local laws and compliance. A complex task in hand, more so if you are a global employer.. 

Freedom to experiment 

Bringing in innovations is a precarious task for companies. It involves money and several other risks.

Disadvantages of Contingent Workers

hiring contingent workers also has some challenges that you must be aware of. 

Control of the employer

Despite working for you, contingent workers aren’t your employees. This restricts your control over their work. 

Trust and reliability

The time taken to onboard a contingent worker is significantly less than a core employee. As time-saving as that can be, it also brings in the challenge of trust.

Security risks

Despite being temporary workers, they work with your data, the intricate details of your business. Sometimes it also involves confidential data. 

Legality and non-compliance

By law, the employer has minimal legal responsibilities to contingent workers than direct hires. However, it gets tricky to classify them apart, based on the legislation. Companies struggle to define whether an individual is an employee or a contingent worker.

Team culture and cohesion

The team dynamics can isolate a contingent worker. The bonding will not be intact as they work with your team for only a short term. This lack of cohesion can affect their productivity which would eventually cause a dent in the business. 

Unavailability of consistent talent

Contingent workers work on their own terms. You cannot define their working hours or demand they be available during crises.

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