High Score Labs News   •   Feb 2, 2019

There are critical differences to having a remote employee and a Freelancer. Both individuals should be seen as partners in your journey towards success, and each model should be viewed objectively. Research from IWG shows that about 70% of global professionals work remotely at least once a week. The dynamic nature of business has made both models equally viable to adopt and manage.  

Healthcare, benefits and compliances 

One of the greatest areas of advantage, when it comes to hiring Freelancers, is the low costs associated with employee retention. There is a flexibility that emerges from having Freelancers which isn’t available when you have remote workers. From compensation to healthcare, there are a lot of additional costs that the company has to bear.  

Compliances are a key issue as well. When companies have employees on-board, they need to follow the right compliance measures to train, grow and retain their talent. That factor doesn’t come into play when you’re working with Freelancers.  

Increasing flexibility and control 

While there is grater control in having a remote employee, the compensation model is fixed. You’re going to be working with remote employees in the same manner as you would a regular employee – “hourly”. That’s why there is limited flexibility in the case where a remote employee just takes longer to produce the same work as a Freelancer would.  

Freelancers may quote you a fixed rate or have flexible payment options available. This makes the Freelance route more appealing, especially in high technical domains. You can develop the right code and ship it out without having to waste resources in-house.  

Domain authority and skillset 

Another important area of consideration revolves around the pure skill level of the employee. If you have a remote employee setup for cost efficiencies, you may be compromising in the scope of quality. Quality is just as important when it comes to execution as it is to control cost.  

With freelancers, there is greater flexibility and you can hire the right talent that can help you produce better results. You can also define the scope depending on your own objectives and add new freelancers that can collaborate. This is a better structure to work within and a more streamlined way to leverage domain authority.