Contract employment – did you notice the change?

Companies are now evolving in terms of hiring employees, from permanent to contractors, for a vast number of reasons that only the fragile economic market can dictate.

Most professionals would now consider taking a contract role and they would expect that in due course they would have a permanent offer from their current employer or when moving to a different organisation.

The contracting market in Singapore continues to expand and is now becoming a trend to hungry job seekers, whose focus is more on career growth, expanding their knowledge and looking for a more challenging role and a resource who values maturity in the industry.

Here are some of the collective reasons why the trend of employment changed to contracting:

Diversity 

Being in a contract position, you have the opportunity to deal with and get a chance to interact with different people at all levels, ethnicities, gender or religious practices. That experience would enable you to instinctively act based on the common norms that transverse between different cultures.

Broader Exposure 

When an employer hires a contract resource, it gives the contractor the opportunity to grow in different areas. They are more exposed to different projects which would result in acquiring more knowledge to help them practice different skill sets. The same skill set can then be applied to different Industries having a “consultant” kind of label on their name for the vast exposure they possess.

 

Short Term Project Role 

Aside from being a diverse resource and well exposed, being in a short term project can give you the benefit to take on any next opportunity that would come your way with better confidence and sense of leadership. This would help get you up to speed with newer systems/ technology and better up-sell yourself when seeking permanent employment.

Career Progression

Being a contract resource, you get to expand your knowledge; you are more time conscious and have better adaptability to different projects. You will have better visibility on the scope of the role and will never have the “sinking” feeling that you are entombed there for years as a new project is only just around the corner. Short-term projects could mean more experience that would translate to more exposure across the vast industry.

Salary 

Often now in contracting within the Asia Pacific region, we are starting to notice premiums paid for contractor services. Especially within the IT space with some roles are incredibly niche, it is critical that companies have these people in the business so they will pay premiums to secure such services. Lifestyle - when you take up a contract project, as your project is nearing to an end, this will give you the opportunity to take short trips, take special courses or certifications and the beauty of this is that you are in control of your own time.

I am offering a free consultation service to candidates who are keen to move to a new or different role; keen to explore contract role; keen to go back to work after a long break; or keen to know more about how contracting works in Singapore.  Please get in touch with me at my contact details below.