Did you know that post-COVID-19, businesses increasingly rely on remote talent to drive growth and achieve their goals? Regular domains like tech, marketing, finance, or customer support businesses are now opting to hire remote employees.
In fact, remote hiring is one of the best strategies to increase employee retention and satisfaction. This is because candidates mostly prefer working remotely owing to various reasons such as balancing their work, avoiding relocation expenses, etc. However, employers often get confused about whether to invest in hiring long-term remote employees or freelancers. Surprisingly, many people are shifting from their nine-to-five jobs to become either self-employed or freelancers.
Due to the huge availability of freelancers, 78% of organizations, according to Fiverr, relied on hiring freelancers over long-term remote employees in 2023. However, it is always a better choice to hire long-term remote employees than freelancers, especially in terms of data security, organizational stability, and trust.
Let us look into some of the benefits of hiring remote employees for long-term business goals over freelancers. This will help you to decide the best option required for your organization’s growth.
Freelancers and their role:
Freelancers are independent service providers who are not the internal staff of companies. They possess certain skills and they provide services to the clients based on their skills and expertise. One best part about them is that they are always updated on the market and industry trends. They have the independence to work on multiple projects for various clients. As they charge per project, task, or hour, they are good for short-term projects or business goals. It is always easier, quicker, and cost-effective to hire a freelancer. But hiring freelancers can be unreliable regarding issues such as data and IT security when you give access to them. Therefore, it is always the best idea to hire remote employees over such freelancers for long-term vision.
Challenges involved in hiring freelancers:
It is easier and more trustworthy to hire full-time remote employees than to hire freelancers. You can completely rely on them to achieve your goal. Freelancers though possess specific skill sets required for certain projects, there are always some risks when you choose freelancers. Let us explore the various risks involved in hiring a freelancer.
Unavailability and unreliability:
Although some of the best freelancing platforms like Fiverr or Upwork give you access to several good freelancers, the common issue clients face is their unpredictable nature. Since freelancers are not your company’s fulltime employees, they are not contract bound. Hence if they suddenly disappear or don’t deliver the project on time, your work will be affected. Most shocking is their unavailability when you need them the most. Freelancers simultaneously work on a huge number of projects for various clients. This makes them overburdened with work and they might compromise on your project even during critical times. They sometimes cannot deliver their tasks on time which makes them suddenly withdraw from your project.
Whereas, your long-term remote worker offers you much more stability and reliability. This is because they are members of your in-house team who are fully committed to your business goal. Unlike freelancers, they are easily reachable, committed to you and so they mostly finish the task within the deadline.
Security issues :
When you hire freelancers, you give them access to some sensitive data of your company, especially when you hire them for your IT infrastructure. But do you know that most of the freelancers registered on Fiverr or Upwork have anonymous profiles and they work even for your competitors? Therefore, it leads to concerns related to data and IT security. They might not follow the rules related to cyber security best practices. Not adopting protective security measures can release sensitive data to hackers.
However, choosing remote employees is always safe because they are committed to you for the long term. You can set security protocols for them to safeguard your sensitive data. They will definitely follow it, as they are your full-time employees working only for the company. They company’s loss worries their job security whereas a freelancer will be unimpacted. Therefore, there is less chance of data leakage and you can rely on them.
Inconsistency:
Freelancers work on many projects at the same time. This can result in inconsistency in work. In addition, they are not internal staff of your company. So, they focus more on the monetary aspect than on perfection. They are with you until the project is completed. So, they somehow try to complete it without prioritizing the organization’s values, mission, and vision. It leads to fluctuation in the quality of work they deliver.
Your remote workers on the other hand are well aware of your company’s aim, motto, and values. They have consistency in the workflow and can deliver much better results. Their work always aligns with the company’s aim and objectives. As they stay for a longer period in the company, they are familiar with the level of work you want and often deliver quality work. With time, they are more aware of your priorities and needs and can effectively deliver results.
Difficulties in building trust and collaboration:
Since you hire freelancers for a short duration of time, it is difficult for you to completely trust them. They may not always fit with your company culture. Sometimes you might be hiring them to collaborate with your in-house team in meeting a deadline. As they are not part of your company, they might refuse to work collaboratively with the team and prefer to work independently.
But your in-office and remote members can integrate well into the team and contribute towards business growth. They also work seamlessly when they are united to a different team for a special project or task.
Communication issues:
Effective communication between the employer and employees leads to success in projects. Although the best freelancing platforms like Upwork, and Fiverr have some communication tools, you might not always find them available to communicate. Differences in time zones and competing priorities could be some causes of their delayed responses.
Your long-term remote employees are always available to respond quickly to you. There are various best communication tools for remote teams. Tools like Slack, Asana, Trello, Zoom, Skype, etc help to promote teamwork and effective communication.
Unsuitable for long-term growth:
Freelancers are not suitable for your long-term business growth. There is a chance that they might move to another project or company after a few months. Thus when they leave you in between, you will helplessly search for a new freelancer. Therefore, it will affect the workflow and cause delays in the completion of the project. Also, when one project is handled by multiple freelancers, everyone brings in a different approach and it unnecessarily delays.
Your in-house staff, on the other hand, will be focused on their work, as they are your permanent employees. They will grow with the organization and so will contribute towards its success.
Higher cost:
Hiring freelancers may seem cost-effective in the beginning, but it is not so for a long time. Most skilled freelancers charge on an hourly basis, which can be highly expensive when they work for a longer time. Sometimes, they might stretch a project incurring company’s expenses.
Your remote teams are salaried employees. Your projects might be longer or shorter, critical or simpler but they get a fixed monthly pay.
Why choose a long-term remote employee over freelancers?
Freelancers although provide flexible scaling and short-term solutions to business, they are not the right fit for overall growth and business development. They can be hired for a short period to complete specific tasks and projects. But again, you might have cyber security threats and other issues too. You may have some complex projects that require more staff to integrate with. A freelancer in such a case cannot be an effective solution. A freelancer works independently and you have very little control over him and his work.
It is always better to choose remote employees, especially when you want to hire for long-term commitments. They are reliable, loyal, and trustworthy and fit well with your company culture. You can also constantly monitor and supervise their work. You provide feedback for their work and offer suggestions regarding the areas of improvement. The remote workers will continuously improve and perform better, thereby contributing to the company’s development.
Need help building your dream remote IT team? Contact us today!
At Utkrisht, we specialize in connecting businesses with top-tier remote IT talent—pre-vetted, skilled, and ready to deliver.
