The two biggest benefits to using contingent workers over core employees are flexibility and cost savings. Contingent workers are outsourced, non-permanent workers who are commonly referred to as Independent Contractors, contract workers, freelancers, gig workers, consultants, temporary talent or remote workers.
Contingent workers are not core employees and are not managed by a traditional employment model.
A contingent worker can work on site or remotely; however, when the their contract is at an end or the project for which the contingent worker was hired for is complete, the employer has no responsibility to provide continuous work to that worker on a permanent basis. As contingent workers are not core employees, they are only engaged by an employer on a short-term, long term or on a project-by-project basis.
Before gaining insights into the advantages and disadvantages of engaging contingent workers, it’s important to understand the difference between a contingent worker and a core (or full-time) employee.