Remote Employees vs Freelancers: Which One Best Suits Your Company?
Many of us ask this question-Which one is better? Freelancers or remote employees? However, the real question you need to ask is which one best suits your company. Read to know more.
According to a Remote Work Report by Zapier released in 2019, 95 percent of U.S. knowledge workers want to work remotely, and 74 percent are ready to quit their current job to be able to do so. With the pandemic, work cultures of today are hybrid with employees working full-time, part-time, working from home, and freelancing. However, people often get confused between remote employees and freelancers. So what is the difference? And which one best suits your company?
Remote employees, also known as telecommuters, are your full-time company employees that work from home or wherever they find comfortable. Freelancers are not employed by your company, but rather they are contracted by you for a limited period. The question isn’t about which is better than the other but rather which one best suits your company. Here are a few guidelines you need to keep in mind when choosing between remote employees and freelancers.
Hiring remote workers instead of freelancers saves you money and time in the long run. If your projects are small, then freelancers may be your choice.
It all depends on the amount of work and if you want someone who is fully invested in the company. If you need someone to do a short-term project go for a freelancer. Hiring a freelancer is cost-effective if it is a short-term project. Businesses are not responsible for giving training, taxes, or providing any equipment to freelancers. You will only have to pay for the work done instead of giving an annual salary. Hence at a first glance, you might find hiring a freelancer less costly. But it is also time-consuming and expensive to search for freelancers now and then.
Hiring and onboarding new hires are costly. However investing in remote employees would save time and resources in the long run. An added and very important benefit is that when hiring a remote employee you will also have a loyal and dedicated employee that will continue to help grow the company. Remote employees are more integrated into company culture than freelancers.
Freelancers may not be exclusive and work with many other companies at the same time. Because of the exclusivity, remote employees are available during a particular time frame while freelancers are not
If you want someone available to you in a specific period then remote employees are what you need. Freelancers work on their schedules and equipment. Freelancers are available for scheduled calls but are not available for sudden calls during work hours. Freelancers usually work for multiple clients too at the same time. If you want a flexible arrangement, where you are providing complete control and autonomy of the work to the person- a freelancer is the better choice.
An employee is someone available during set hours daily, who is ready to take on urgent work or block off the entire day to work. They are available and communicate with their colleagues in those set hours. Hire employees if you have many demanding and continuous projects that require a lot of attention and time.
Hiring remote workers help ensure a consistently good quality of your projects because they are more dedicated than freelancers.
Full-time remote employees have a better understanding of the company culture. They have a good understanding of the business goals and client needs. This drives them to produce a stream of good quality work. Also, it is very clear that remote employees are more loyal and dedicated to the company when compared to freelancers.
Choosing remote workers over freelancers positively affects relationships with your clients
Your remote employees would know how to acquaint with the company clients since they are much aware of the company goals. Clients and customers look out for good services. A major part of your brand is to have consistency in providing good services and this is only possible with a strong team working on it. Clients should be impressed with the interactions with the company employees it helps to build trust and good relations with the client when one employee communicates consistently with the client. Freelancers who have no intimate connection to the company cannot achieve this. Remote employees will ensure that the company goals and values are guiding them when interacting with customers.
Conclusion:
There is no correct answer to the question of whether freelancers or remote employees are better. It all depends on several factors. Be firm and sure of what you want and use the above tips to choose the right person for the job. Build hybrid workplaces that would stand straight when the economic conditions waver.
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