In today’s rough and unforgiving economic climate many companies are seeking to reduce costs and improve their return on all previous investments that they’ve made. This, combined with several reports from market experts (Gershwin being a good example), has lead to an overall decrease in the amount of temporary workers hired and a push to bring a lot of talent in house. It would seem that the best option would be to secure employment now and skill up during these hard times and cash it all in when times come good again. You’d be crazy not to do it.

That is, unless you’re like me. I’m an IT contractor, and businesses will look at me first for the chop.

But what does trimming the contractors actually net for my employer? In my current position I’m doing what a contractor is supposed to be doing, filling a skill gap for either a temporary vacancy whilst they find a full time employee or bringing in additional skills required to implement various projects. Reducing your numbers of people like myself isn’t a bad thing, but it will reduce your capability to deliver on required projects. It would seem however that there are some places that are content to use contractors as full-time replacements. Using contractors in such a way is going to cost you much more than it would to properly fund the rightly skilled full time employee. However short term budgeting will show a cost saving with the contractor, since you’re not going to have to pay things like superannuation and insurance.

So what should employers be doing in order to whether these tough times? The answer isn’t what most employers want to hear, since they’ll be looking to reduce costs in the short term in the hopes that everything will come good. However, these are the factors that I have seen grab and retain exceptionally skilled people:

  • Attractive salary packages: The old saying “Pay peanuts, get monkeys” is appropriate here. Too many times I’ve seen employees with great skill and corporate knowledge walk out the door for something as small as $5,000 a year more at another company. On average it will cost your employer 1.5x your yearly salary to let you go. Grabbing someone early with a higher wage will keep them interested for longer, save any workplace issues.
  • Clear career paths: This was the reason I left most of my previous jobs. I always made it clear where I wanted to be heading with my superiors. However when it came time to make good on a described career path I always hit a dead end. It was at that point I would start looking for another job, since it was obvious that they made promises that they couldn’t keep.
  • Flexible working arrangements: Nothing says you trust your employees more than allowing them to work from home a day or two a week. We place an extremely large value on face-time with each other and that’s not a bad thing. However options such as working remotely can be a huge benefit to your employees, and will more then likely have them staying on for longer. As long as you establish clear deliverables for your employees does it really matter whether they complete them whilst at work or at home?

All these things will cost the employer something but in return they will get an employee who is loyal and willing to go that extra step for the company. I’ve seen many places with just one of the 3 above and they think that will keep their employees going. It will for a time but eventually they will start to desire more of these options, and if they’re determined they’ll find it.

I think this is why the Australian Public Service has a track record for keeping people for large periods of time. Whilst the salaries might not be the greatest (although they are pretty amazing for entry level workers) the flexible working arrangements and very clear career paths tend to keep people on for many years. I was a public servant for almost 3 years before I turned to private industry, and I couldn’t of done uni and full time work without the arrangements they had available.

After all this, if you still want to hire me remember this: I’m not a permanent replacement and I work for the highest bidder. It’s capitalism in its purest form, but I’ll be sure that you get your moneys worth.

I can’t guarntee that from all contractors though 🙂

About the Author

David Klemke

David is an avid gamer and technology enthusiast in Australia. He got his first taste for both of those passions when his father, a radio engineer from the University of Melbourne, gave him an old DOS box to play games on.

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