It’s no longer a surprise that technology is a vital component of any business. It has heavily influenced the way that small businesses function and it has also created an unprecedented number of opportunities for an incredible number of people. The internet has allowed businesses and freelancers to connect with one another, so much so that about half of the total labor pool in the United States is comprised of freelancers. More often than not, this connection is made possible by a global PEO that helps companies hire the best talent.
But, how exactly does hiring a freelancer over a full-time worker benefit a business? And when is the best time to hire a team of freelancers to handle your project? Knowing the answer to these questions will allow you to make the best use of this new breed of professional. Here are a few of the benefits of sourcing your team online.
Less Overhead Costs
One of the primary advantages of hiring freelancers is that they do not come with overhead costs that regular full-time employees do. Overhead costs such as training, equipment, and transportation are nullified by the fact that these are things that freelancers already have. This is also a big reason why a lot of small businesses prefer to work with freelancers.
Scalability
Another advantage of hiring freelancers is that they can be hired on a per-project basis, which means that you can easily scale up or scale down your operations depending on the workload that you currently have. This is especially true for businesses that are in the middle of growth where workloads can fluctuate from time to time. This means that you don’t end up with too many workers when the workload is low, as is the case with regular employees. The real problem with having unutilized workers is that you’re basically just throwing money down the drain. And that’s something no business wants to do.
Diverse Pool Of Candidates
Freelancers allows businesses to circumvent the geographical limitations of hiring locally. While this may not seem as important for simpler tasks, when a project requires a certain set of skills, this can come in. By hiring a freelancer, businesses have access to a diverse and expansive talent pool and they’re bound to find the right candidate for the job.
Self-Sufficiency
Another important characteristic of freelancers is that they are almost always trained in their craft and they require little to no training on the work that is assigned to them. This is a big advantage — besides the fact that you won’t have to pay for their training, freelancers can be deployed almost immediately, which means that they are going to be producing output right away.
Convenience
With so many online tools available, there’s a lot of opportunities to automate tasks that would otherwise require the aid of an HR department. Outbound payments can be made through software, and you only need a minimal number of HR experts to keep your business functional.
But even with these benefits, freelancers aren’t always going to be the best candidates for the job. The key lies in knowing when are the best times to hire freelancers (as mentioned above) and when should you hire locally (for security purposes). It’s important to strike a balance between the two in order to ensure that you are making the best use of your resources.