Pros and cons: Contract vs permanent roles in the digital sector

In the digital sector, there are many niche skill sets and varied roles that need to be filled within a business. Whether this is purely digital, digital marketing or more a technical role, it can be difficult to know whether to recruit a full-time employee, or hire a contract worker to fill the gap while an important project is running.

The differences between permanent and contract roles in digital are simple, and the usual administrative differences apply. For permanent roles, candidates have a contract directly with the employer, which involves all of the predefined benefits and clauses. For contracted professionals, candidates can either be on the employer’s, recruitment company’s or an umbrella company’s payroll. 

So, what are the pros and cons of hiring permanent and contractual staff, and how can you decipher which professional is right for your vacancies?

Permanent staff

The benefits

The benefits of hiring digital staff permanently will depend on the size of the organisation and the needs of the team. However, there are some key decision-making factors that apply to all digital businesses looking to expand their team permanently. Here are some of the key benefits of hiring permanent staff.

• Long-term security: A key benefit is you are hiring a dedicated member of staff. Permanent employees will be, in general, more bought-in to the wider vision and objectives of the business. 
   
• Broader knowledge of the organisation: A candidate who has time to familiarise themselves with your organisation will be inherently more valuable. Therefore, hiring permanently means that you reap the rewards of that professional development, rather than having them utilise their skills elsewhere after learning the ropes.
   
• An in-depth recruitment process: Recruiting for a permanent role is often drawn over numerous stages and is inclusive of more stakeholders. Therefore, the calibre of person you select for the role may be higher. 

The disadvantages

Even though there are many positives when hiring permanent staff, there are some disadvantages to taking on someone full time in a digital role. Here are some of the key disadvantages you should consider when planning your recruitment strategy.
 

• The fast-pace of digital: Digital channels change so frequently that perhaps it’s a risk to employ someone permanently to handle particular channels. For example, if marketing strategy moves away from written copy and towards media-rich content, there may be expensive redundancy packages needed for the now anachronistic staff members.
   
• Hiring the wrong candidate:  While there is some inbuilt insurance when using an agency in a rebate or replace clause, there is a limited timeframe on it. Problems with a new hire might not present themselves until much further down the line. For example, poor attitude or competence fit for the candidate. 

It’s important to keep in mind that hiring the wrong person isn’t always in your control. In order to mitigate the above risks when hiring, you should develop a comprehensive business case to support the need for a new hire.

Contract staff

The benefits

Contract and temporary staff are a great way to embed a culture of learning and constant development. Contract staff undoubtedly bring something new to the business and can spot when something needs fixing, and help sort the issue. Here are some of the key benefits of hiring temporary staff.
 

• Top-notch consultants: Temporary staff can be amazing consultants, particularly in digital. They are often a trove of competitor research. Having had exposure to a variety of different environments, they have developed an intuition into what works most effectively. Be it innovative new tools or streamlined business processes to help reach your audience. 
   
• Try before you buy: You can test how a staff member fits within the business and see whether they have the necessary competencies, before making a decision on whether it would be a long-term fit.
   
• Flexibility for you: You could have a new hire with you in a very short time, rather than waiting for a notice period to end. Similarly, if a project should finish early, you needn’t spend money on unnecessary wages.
   
• Specialist expertise: You will be able to plug a skills gap within the team at short notice, with the ability to edit them from the business just as quickly if necessary.  

The disadvantages

• Higher cost: As the risk goes down, the expense goes up. When you hire temporary staff, the risk of hiring long-term is passed on them. Lacking long-term security, the rate they require is often more than their permanent counterparts. 
   
• Hiring the wrong candidate: A shorter recruitment process could result in hiring candidates who aren’t best suited for the role, perhaps necessitating replacement and the backlog of project and campaign deadlines that aren’t running to schedule.

Hiring for permanent and contract roles

Certain roles may be better to be hired for on a permanent basis over contractual, and vice versa. Roles with a recommended end date are, of course, best hired as contractors. In reality, that means roles such as digital project managers, transformation roles, digital asset development or revamps, and marketing audits are best hired on a contractual basis, dependant on your business needs.

Roles involving people-management are often best recruited permanently. The head of digital role, for example, to provide internal stability and long-term vision. Similarly, staff with continuous role responsibilities may be best hired permanently, as it is more than likely that there will be a continuous need for them.

Throughout the interview process, you should offer some context around how your vacancies will play into the broader vision and goal of the business. Give some stats, figures, and motivation for improving business processes. This allows their input to work towards an objective, fostering a collaborative culture despite the short-term nature of the role. 

If you are looking to hire for both contract and permanent roles in your digital team and business, please get in touch with one of our specialist recruitment consultants today.

Tichaona Moyo
Managing Consultant, Michael Page

Ben Cook
Consultant, Michael Page