The journey to becoming an employer of choice for contractors in the tech sector has changed since the pandemic started to align with the changing needs of the people within it. This starts far before the job offer stage: in 2020, there was an abrupt change in the interviewing and hiring processes with the necessary shift to remote; in 2021, 49% of workers said multiple rounds and scheduling errors are red flags for companies. Now, other than sought-after brand name companies with highly desirable positions, in order to get the top talent companies must move fast in the interview process, be flexible with timing and allow live coding or shorter take-home tech tests – all to get to the job offer.
What Contract Workers Are Looking For in Roles
Whether job seekers or current contractors, developers and engineers want a flexible working environment, market-value pay and most importantly, technical challenges & interesting problems to solve. In fact, a recent survey indicated that about 60% of developers say one of these three tops the list of most important things in a job offer. Technologists want to be engaged in their work, seeking enterprise roles to create in, not just update and fix old code.
Excerpt Above From 2022 State of Tech Employment in Contracting. [DOWNLOAD]
Even for those not job searching, the dynamic between tech professionals in contract roles could face a power dynamic shift in 2022 as the talent shortage continues.
Contractors Want Better Compensation Packages
In some ways, temp workers want to be a part of the culture and feel as if they are empowered by their company at the same level as full-time employees – including a competitive salary, supportive management and similar benefits.
“Attraction and retention of skilled tech contractors will be a focal point for enterprise organizations in 2022,” said Nicholas Campo, Vice President at Motion Recruitment. “Offering competitive wages to this highly sought-after group of workers is baseline criteria. What is equally as important is an inclusive, balanced work environment - one with strong benefits from their recruiting partner.”
Read More: Overcoming the Tech Talent Shortage: A Guide to the Enterprise Market in 2022
A Culture that Includes Contract Workers
While benefits like health insurance and 401k are owned by most staffing agencies, major employers will need to go past the bare minimum to attract high-quality contract workers. Whatever perks a company has invested in, free or discounted childcare, skillset growth opportunities, or even something as small as catered lunches, large employers will benefit from making those available to contract workers.
A Possible Pathway to Full-Time Employment
Beyond the perks and benefits that make contractors feel like they are part of a business’s culture, many contract workers want an opportunity to choose full-time employment if it's the right fit. 62% of contract, freelance and temporary workers say that they would prefer to work as permanent employees, with that number jumping to 76% among first-generation immigrant contract workers. Career contracting can be a lucrative and successful career path, but being able to continue on at company that checks all the boxes can be a desirable option to have.
Time, responsibilities, compensation, skillsets, growth, work/life balance, location, team…There’s a common theme among what everyone in the tech world wants right now, and the key to it is flexibility.
While all HR and tech professionals may not agree on each item, at the end of the day, it’s all about value: IT professionals want to get paid their value, increase their value as a professional on interesting projects, be given trust as a valued employee and add to their value with access to upskilling. Other than that, the best way to attract talent may be simply adopting a policy of flexibility and listening to what both current and potential employees want.
