How to choose between hiring freelancers or employing a UK based agency
The expanding number of self-employed people is a major factor in the rise of the gig economy.
By 2027, independent contractors will make up around 51% of the labour market, and the number of freelance gigs is expected to grow by 14% in the next six years.
Who wouldn’t be enthralled by the prospect of offloading a mundane, everyday task to a freelancer in another nation for a fraction of the cost?
Furthermore, there are several web tools that may assist you in locating freelancers that are skilled for the work you want.
Businesses may be able to save money and boost their agility by hiring members of the community of independent information technology contractors.
When it comes to making decisions about a company’s future, the advantages are significant, but they are seldom more so than the risks that are involved.
When working with independent software developers, it is critical to do your research and act prudently throughout the process. Otherwise, it’s possible that the disadvantages will outweigh the benefits by a significant margin.
Let’s look at the most significant disadvantages of freelancing overseas:
Freelancers frequently take on many projects at once since doing so is considered standard practice.
On the other hand, they don’t always take into account the amount of time and work that will be required to complete the task.
Working with independent contractors has a number of challenges, one of the most significant of which being the following:
Possible causes of further delays in the execution of projects include issues with the internet connection, ineffective systems, and the like. Because they take on more work and have fewer stable hours than regular employees, freelancers take longer to react to urgent requests than regular workers do.
Using freelance websites for recruiting is not an easy process. Millions of people utilise freelancing sites such as Upwork. If you post a job on one of these websites, thousands of individuals will apply. Many of them are not as experienced as they claim.
It’s likely that people who aren’t the greatest fit for the job will nonetheless apply. It is your responsibility to analyse each application and choose the best competent individual.
One of the major disadvantages of using freelancers is that there is a lack of direct oversight. When compared to regular employees, freelancers don’t have established hours and their work quality may fluctuate widely from job to job. This makes it impractical to monitor them continuously. This might cause errors in the long run, which is especially troublesome when there are impending deadlines.
Profiles of freelancers on freelancing employment forums may contain inflated claims about the candidates’ qualifications, experience, and talents.
For example, the great majority of candidates claim to be “fluent in spoken English” on their profiles, even if this may not be the truth for many of them.
They will be unable to perform to expectations since they lack the necessary abilities.
Keep in mind that some independent freelancers require a 10% – 20% down payment before they begin working. Everything will be ok as long as the freelancer works swiftly and completes the assignment on time. Despite obtaining the funds in advance, a significant number of freelancers fail to take their efforts through to completion.
When a start-up is working with freelancers, safety must always come first. Freelancers will be working with your company’s data and process documentation.
You will need to be careful about what you provide them with. As a result, you should implement stringent security requirements and conduct frequent audits to guarantee the reliability of your documents.
Freelancing works best for short-term, targeted projects. You should understand that building long-term connections with your freelancers is impossible. It’s possible that ten separate freelancers were contracted to undertake the various jobs. Keeping in touch with all of them necessitates a large expenditure of time and energy that may be better spent elsewhere.
An indefinite collaboration with a freelancer is unworkable. The fundamental cause for this is the time zone difference. Because most freelancers are in entirely different time zones, it may be difficult to plan calls for both parties during unsociable hours of the night or early in the morning.
The majority of these freelancers are based in underdeveloped nations. It’s possible that they lack the necessary foundations to carry out the efforts properly. Freelancers who work from home are more vulnerable to workday disruptions caused by difficulties such as power outages, poor internet connections, sluggish and old computers, and other similar concerns.
