Why I’ll Never Hire Anyone Full-Time.
And you shouldn’t too.
We are becoming increasingly unproductive, and it’s terribly affecting the bottom-line of businesses and startups. But before going into why this is happening and what can we do to solve it, let me ask you something first:
Why are we still working 9–5's?
Back-track to the late18th century, what do you see?
Inhumane working conditions with 16-hour workdays and factories running 24/7. It was not until 1917 that Ford Motors decided to not only cut the shifts to 8 hours/day but also raise salaries. And then what happened?
Productivity exploded.
The world has drastically changed since 1917. Technology has allowed us to be more efficient and effective — we can do more with much less. We have automated most industrial processes, and the output per employee is supposed to be higher than ever before. But if all this is true…
Why are we still accepting a 9–5 as the standard workday?
Ok, I’m done ranting.
But did you know that the average worker is only productive for 2h and 53 minutes out of the working day?
What are they doing the rest of the time? — great question.
Well, research shows they spend over an hour reading news websites, 45 minutes checking social media, 40 minutes talking not-work-related stuff with colleagues, and 25 minutes smoking.
Oh, something even better: they also spend around half an hour every day looking for new jobs.
Here’s the problem:
You are paying these people for 8 hours of their work, but you are only getting three of them back.
When your employees are stalking their exboyfriend on Facebook — you are paying for that.
When they are talking about how the Lakers beat the Celtics on Saturday — you are paying for that.
When they are applying for another job with your competitors — guess what — you are paying for that too.
Technology has allowed us to be way more productive than a couple of centuries ago, but it also has created a limitless world full of cat videos and Buzzfeed articles where your employees’ attention leaves to never come back.
Attention spans are shortening. Distractions are infinite. And businesses are paying the price.
So what can we do about all this?
Option 1 is to reduce the number of hours we make our employees work.
In the United States, the 40-hour workweek is like the Boogeyman — a widespread myth. US workers report that, on average, they work 47 hours per week, and 4/10 work more than 50.
This New Zealand estate planning company (240 employees) implemented a 4-day work week to great success. The stats are clear: stress was reduced by 7% and work-life balance improved by 24%.
More importantly, the employee output and job performance were maintained despite cutting the hours by 20%.
Option 2: freelancing and the gig economy.
I ghostwrite articles that let Entrepreneurs, CEO’s, and Investors build their thought leadership equity by simply sharing what they know. So, basically, I am a freelance writer.
I am a 1-man team — a solopreneur. But what if I wanted to turn this into an actual company? What if I had to hire, you know, editors, and marketers, and account managers, and lawyers, and accountants, and…? What would I do?
I would not hire a single full-time employee. Not one.
And you know why: I won’t pay for 8 hours of work to get 3 in return. I won’t pay for someone to check their Instagram. Not to mention that full-time workers carry extra costs such as health insurance.
Many small businesses and startups shouldn’t hire full-time either. But where should they find employees then?
Freelancers and contractors.
You know why freelancers are so productive? Because they are paid per project and not by the hour or, what’s even worse, by salary.
My clients don’t care how long I spend writing an article for them. They don’t care about where I write it from. They just want it to be good and on time. Nothing else really matters to them.
As a freelancer, I am pushed to be productive and quick because, once the project is done, I can go lay on the beach in Barcelona, Spain (jealous, huh?). But I am also motivated to do my best work because I can be fired at any time.
The gig economy is a reality: 36 percent of the US workforce — 57.3 million — freelanced in 2017; and the future: by 2027, 58 percent of American workers will have had some experience as independent contractors.
But, honestly, it’s just the market’s answer to the dramatic lack of productivity of the current workforce. Business owners and startup CEO’s have found that they get the best bang for their buck with freelancers rather than full-time workers.
Freelancers have less risk, are cheaper, produce better results, and are encouraged to be more efficient.
So, if you are a manager looking for the next hire,
consider working with a freelancer instead of a regular employee.
And, if you are a current full-time employee,
analyze how you spend your time at work, and consider whether you want to explore freelancing in the future.
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