Is SSC contracting growing?
The concept of contracting appears more and more often not only in connection with work in the IT industry, but also in the SSC / BPO sector. The IT service contracting market has been developing very dynamically for years, but it is still something new in the SSC / BPO industry. However, it can be noticed that from year to year an increasing number of companies are becoming convinced of this type of employment. It is worth considering the benefits of this type of cooperation, both for jobseekers and employees.
Contracting - what is it all about?
Contracting can be defined in many ways. It can be said that it is a cooperation platform addressed to companies that want to employ specific specialists for a specific period (a particular project). It is also a very flexible model of dependence between the employee and the employer - known as a kind of outsourcing.
Contracting, also known as outsourcing or body leasing, is a flexible model of cooperation between the company and the employee. The employee does not sign a contract directly with the organization in which he will work, but with an agency that specializes in outsourcing.
When looking at contracting from multiple perspectives, benefits can be seen for the employee, but also for the company for which the person wants to work. If both parties decide on this type of alliance, the employee signs a contract with the agency, which in turn works with the target company. The recruitment agency specializing in contracting is then responsible for formal and administrative matters.
Opportunities and threats for contracting
Many people nowadays associate contracting with something unfavorable - why? First, potential employees do not like the term "being posted". For many people, this term is negative. Instead, employees prefer the wording "to be employed". It's a detail, but it makes a big difference nonetheless. Therefore, if you want to encourage someone to contract, it is worth explaining exactly what it will be in a specific situation and what the contract will look like.
In the IT industry, a contractor is most often a person who works on the basis of a B2B contract. The nature of this industry allows employers and employment agencies to carry out this type of contract, and it is beneficial for both parties. So how does this relate to the SSC / BPO industry?
The observations of Antal specialists show that a large part of contracting may be based on slightly different rules than in IT. Due to the nature of the job and the industry, the transition from project to project is not as easy here. For the majority of people looking for a new job, stable and long-term cooperation with a new employer is important. Therefore, an ideal solution may be "atypical contracting" - the agency employs specialists (e.g. AR Accountant with German - Accounts Receivable Department in BPO / SSC accounting with German) who sign a standard employment contract and will employ them to clients for a given period. The employee will therefore have an employment contract, but such a person will be a contractor for a potential employer, because formal issues will be on the side of the agency, not the employer. It is an interesting solution that can be very useful, especially in times when the company knows that it will transfer processes (e.g. accounting or customer service) to Poland. Then you will definitely need to hire a few new people, and doing it through the agency may be beneficial for them. Especially thanks to saving time in searching for new specialists (the agency has its employees with whom it has been cooperating for some time, knows their advantages, experience and strengths, which means that they can be easily assigned to the expectations of the client, i.e. the employer).
For the employee, on the other hand, constant contact with the agency is a big advantage here. At the moment when a person decides to change jobs, they can communicate this to the recruitment unit and they will select a company accordingly. The employee can count on full support here. Due to the fact that Antal, as an agency, cooperates with many international companies, recruiters have knowledge not only about the industry, but also about the salaries of specialists, the requirements of potential employers, teams in a given company, opportunities for development / participation in additional training, but also the atmosphere what prevails inside the company. People who decide to change jobs often emphasize these guidelines as important factors. Thanks to this, an agency employee can properly direct people looking for a new job on the right track, prepare for an interview, as well as present to a potential employer all the most important advantages of a given employee in a very short time.
Such a solution can be ideal especially nowadays, when most companies have switched to remote work and recruitment. It is associated with no need to show up at the company's headquarters and the possibility of participating in an online conversation before starting work (no time is wasted on commuting). As a result, employees are processed very quickly, and employment decisions are often made overnight. In such situations, the possibility of using contracting or "non-standard contracting" may turn out to be a win for both the employer and the employee.
It can be seen that contracting is a type of employment that works great, not only in the IT industry. Every year, the number of international companies operating in the SSC / BPO areas that ask us about such solutions is growing. Customers decide to sign contracts under contracting, especially in the areas of Customer Service, IT Helpdesk, HR, Finance and Accounting, Research and Analtics, Procurement and Banking, especially in the case of the need to employ people with foreign languages. Making a decision to hire in the contracting model is associated not only with the speed of finding and hiring new employees. The reasons are also lower back office costs related to employment, reduction of costs related to the recruitment process, the possibility of employing new people for a specified period, recruitment conducted by Antal consultants who are specialized in a given sector.
Natalia Białka, Senior Consultant Antal
e-mail: natalia.bialka@antal.pl
