Thinking about hiring offsite help? Wonder if that’s a good idea? Let’s take a look. Here are the top five benefits that come from hiring contingent workers:

1. Flexibility

The flexibility of contract help means you can enlist this employee for any length of time, from a two-week research project to a six-month website development and launch. You can contract help on a temporary or ongoing basis. This is ideal for short-term projects, particularly when they are inconsistent and sporadic. This means you don’t have to bring on an FTE when you don’t have long-term work for them to do, which also eliminates the need to reduce that staff when the work dries up.

2. Motivation

A contractor has built-in incentives to deliver quality work and quick turnarounds—because every self-employed individual knows that no work means no pay. With contractors, you’re less likely to deal with employee burnout or laziness. What’s more, referrals are the bread and butter of a contractor’s business.  The worker is self-motivated to meet or exceed expectations, if only because that’s how he or she keeps getting work.

4. Cost Savings

Temporary workers save your company money in many ways—from reducing waste to minimizing expenses. Consider the following:

• No vacation pay, sick time, or overtime

• No insurance costs or worker’s comp costs

• Reduced overhead, such as the cost of hardware and software

• Tax benefits, as contractors pay their own

4. Specialization

Contractors are constantly improving their skills as they take on new projects and gain new experiences. This works as another benefit for you—when you hire a temporary worker to do accounting, design, copywriting, labor or other help, you gain the expertise of someone who focuses on that particular skill set.

5. Fresh Perspectives

Contractors offer an invaluable benefit to companies that hire them—fresh perspectives. Think of all the methods companies use to drum up new ideas. With freelancers, you easily gain new ideas and perspectives simply by adding new voices to your team.