What You Need to Hire IT Contractors: Roles, Benefits, and Challenges for Business

Budgeting and effective resource management remain the topics of top importance, for small / medium-sized companies, and enterprise-grade organizations. While traditional in-house hiring remains inflexible and bureaucratic, remote recruitment has become the best choice for many companies. Not only because the cost to hire IT contractors is a core benefit, but due to its flexibility to freely scale up / down and ease of access to specialized skills and emerging technologies.

That’s why remote contractors are now deemed by business owners and tech leaders not only a good short-term solution to release the financial pressure, but a well-demanded service for quick hiring cycles and scaling, freedom from any long-term commitments or legal boundaries – and all this under cost-effective price tags. This trend is reconfirmed by the many successful companies – and our own clients – who experienced a line of benefits of hiring remotely, mainly in terms of cutting costs for benefits liabilities for social security contributions, taxes, and mandatory insurance coverages.

Not to mention that terminating employment with in-house workers (for example, in Europe) may be time-consuming. It also involves various costs, primarily severance payments and notice periods, which differ across countries due to distinct labor laws. Termination costs often depend on the notice period (1-3 months) and payouts. In the EU, early termination fees are found within $2,000-10,000 depending on the seniority, hourly rates, and contract terms. Things may go even worse in the UK, where IR35 regulations can complicate terminations for contractors operating via personal service companies, incurring tax and potentially high compliance-related costs.

In this guide, we’re going to better understand the roles and benefits of independent contractors, common challenges and pitfalls, and look into pricing insights / best practices with top locations for finding them with maximum efficiency.

What Is an IT Contractor?

By definition, an IT contractor on a remote basis is an independent professional or a company-vendor hired on a temporary, project-based, or full-time basis to provide specialized Information Technology (IT) contractors for your business. They typically work as independent consultants, or through a staffing agency, offering expertise for tasks such as software development, IT support, network administration, or cybersecurity.

Unlike hiring in-house employees, IT contractors aren’t bound by strict regulations. They are known for their flexibility, focused approach, cost efficiency, and access to specialized talent without the commitment of full-time employees.

Key Features of International Contractors

Why Hiring an Independent IT Contractor?

When you hire an independent contractor, you gain flexibility and access to specialized skills that would be ideal for short-term or niche projects. Although independent contractor’s integration and long-term availability cannot match hiring full-time employees – they offer a range of unique advantages of hiring (for example, hiring speed, lower cost of hiring, scalability) compared to in-house employees. Below is a detailed comparison to help your business weigh the options effectively.

Cost-Effectiveness

Common rates for IT contractors for hire or working with staffing vendors are far more cost-effective than in-house. Additionally, this model is free from the administrative burden – so contractor can be a great fit for projects that want to quickly hire and save.

Maximum Flexibility

Hiring international contractors or agencies is a great way to find and hire freelance people for project-based work, specific activities, or periods of time. This model allows to quickly upscale / downscale the workforce.

Access to Technologies

Projects that need access to rare skill sets, hard-to-find software engineers, technologies where demand for IT contractors comes over availability (like AI, Python, and Data Science), can quickly fill the knowledge gap.

Fast Integration

Unlike in-house employment that always needs extensive training, and long integration / onboarding, contractors bring you full performance in weeks, not months, and can quickly adapt to your workflow stated in the contractor agreement.

Fresh Perspective

Hiring the right contractor can often bring highly specialized experience and invaluable practical insights they have been acquiring in different organizations and industries for years. Also, this allows your team to train and start working on new technologies.

IT Contractors vs. In-House Employees

Most Demanded Skills
and Roles of IT Contractors

Here is a list of the top popular domains and roles that can be covered by software contractors across various industries and areas of the project. These skills and roles are sought after by business owners and project managers – making specialists with related expertise very demanded. Under global talent shortage, to hire remote developers is a challenging thing to do.

Potential Drawbacks of Hiring Independent Contractors

Hiring independent contractors allows to bring in specialized expertise, speed up recruitment, reassure against costly hiring mistakes, legal / admin boundaries. However, it may present certain challenges that businesses should be aware of. Here are some of the most common pitfalls for you to keep an eye on.

Lack of Full-Time Commitment

Contractors use short-term projects more eagerly, meaning they may not be available for ongoing support, future software updates, or future releases. Remembering about the potential lack of availability (they may be simply contracted for months to come), it’s much harder to build a consistent relationship or continuity – at least without a staffing vendor.

Lack of Onboarding and Unavailability

Independent IT contractors don’t have the ability to deeply understand the company’s tools, processes, and project specifics, especially in complex environments or without dedicated support from the side of the vendor. Also, when independent contractors work with multiple projects, their availability might not align with critical updates or urgent bug fixes. Juggling between multiple projects also leads to potential communication and performance issues.

Quality Assurance

Verifying the contractor’s skills or experience without prior collaboration or references can be challenging and time-consuming, especially when you don’t have professional tech specialists with closely matching expertise. Also, ensuring the quality of work might require additional oversight, especially for critical tasks​.

Strategies to Overcome
These Challenges

• Vet candidates thoroughly by checking their portfolios with relevant experience, references, and reviews
• Use a detailed job description that outlines the project scope, deliverables, and confidentiality clauses
• Go for hybrid approaches, combining contractors for niche expertise and in-house teams for core tasks
• Leverage professional staffing agencies or platforms that vet and manage contractors for additional reliability.

Average IT Contractor Rates
in Different Technologies / Regions
(Middle-to-Senior)

Below is a comparison table showing the average annual salary ranges (rates) in the United States, major countries of the European Union, and Ukraine for some of the most in-demand development roles / technologies and seniority levels (from Middle to Senior-level specialists).

Source: jobs.dou.ua/salaries/ https://djinni.co/salaries/ 

IT Contractors in the U.S. offer the world’s highest rates, mainly as a result of strong demand and high living costs. For instance, Python specialists average $99,500 for freelancers, but experienced ones can earn $152,000 or more in top cities like NYC or San Francisco.

Salaries of contractors within the EU vary widely depending on the country. Regions of Western Europe (e.g., Germany, Netherlands) offer higher rates, while Poland and Romania are countries where your contractors will provide significantly lower average cost to hire – but still competitive in quality.

As for Eastern Europe, Ukraine is the most preferred destination to hire an IT contractor from, with competitive rates and a highly proficient talent pool – even compared to the best-in-class talents found across the globe. Here contracts are less rigid, and potential termination costs are commonly limited to a shorter notice period (or final invoice settlements). Many clients of Mobilunity took advantage of our global staffing solutions for years, having started an effective collaboration with our remote staffing and tech consultancy services back in 2016-2017.

Why to Hire A Contractor in Ukraine

Ukraine’s contractors offer a unique mix of high-quality talent, cost efficiency, and a collaborative work culture. Companies looking for new hire to scale operations, innovate with niche expertise, or optimize costs find Ukrainian talents an excellent choice. Here are the main reasons why businesses choose Ukraine for IT outsourcing or contracting.

Access to Skilled and Experienced Talent

Ukraine is home to over 250,000 IT professionals, with hands-on expertise in different fields like software development, AI, data science, cybersecurity, intellectual property protection and compliance. The country has a robust education system, producing around 20,000 IT graduates annually from technical universities. Also, Ukrainian IT contractors demonstrate proficiency in popular technologies like Python, JavaScript, PHP, .NET, AI/ML, and more – across the most demanded domains and industries.

High Work Ethic and English Proficiency

Ukrainian IT professionals are well-known for their unique cultural compatibility, which is expressed through strong work ethic, dedication and dependability, problem-solving skills, and adaptability to Western development, management, and business practices. The lion’s share of IT specialists from Ukraine have a good-to-high command of English, ensuring clear and efficient communication free from potential misunderstanding.

Cost-Efficiency and Global Recognition

The process of hiring IT contractors in Ukraine can cost significantly less than in the United States or Western Europe. Being a globally recognized IT outsourcing leader, Ukraine is consistently ranked among the top destinations globally due to its talent and affordability. Ukrainian specialists often bring in rich practical expertise in different domains like fintech, eCommerce, AI, and mobile app development.

Time Zone Proximity and Location Benefits

Using an independent contractor from the middle of Europe, Ukraine’s time zone (GMT+2) allows for convenient collaboration with both European and North American teams. Close proximity to Europe allows for easy travel access (for example, for on-site visits, hybrid working models, or contractors for specific collaboration sessions). Additionally, Ukraine has a mix of freelancers, small boutique agencies, and large IT outsourcing firms, offering a range of flexible engagement models.

Reliability, Adaptability, and Resilence

Providing all-around support for the local IT sector, the Ukrainian government actively promotes IT as a strategic industry, offering favorable tax regimes for freelancers and tech companies. Also, the Ukrainian IT sector and local contractors have shown remarkable resilience, reliability, and predictability in delivering high-quality work – even despite geopolitical challenges and in the face of adversity.

Why Choose Mobilunity to Find IT Contractors for Your Project

If you’re looking to hire experienced remote contractors to boost your development or access niche expertise, Mobilunity can offer a range of unique benefits large outsourcing companies can never provide. Although finding the right IT contractor can be a complex task – our tailored services, extensive recruitment capabilities, and other competitive advantages can make us the ideal partner for your project.

Mobilunity has a deep network of IT professionals in Ukraine and beyond. We specialize in creating a custom hiring strategy, providing access to top talent, rare skills, and hard to find independent contractors. State clear expectations to your contractors – and get significant savings compared to Western markets, as Ukrainian IT specialists offer high-quality work at competitive rates.

Consider hiring with Mobilunity, as our 14+ years of experience and vast recruitment capabilities make it possible to hire faster than most in-house recruitment teams, usually reducing the hiring time to just a few weeks. Offering a variety of engagement models, including project-based, contract-based, and dedicated team setups, our independent contractors can help you scale development resources up or down as needed.

Additionally, we manage the entire hiring process, from screening to onboarding, ensuring your project can hire the best fit for your needs without the hassle and admin-related tasks (payroll, taxes, compliance, HR, help desk, employee motivation, and other related activities). With a focus on building long-term and meaningful relationships, we emphasize understanding your talent, skills and knowledge needs, project requirements, tech configuration, and business goals – integrating a perfect IT contractor into your team culture seamlessly, quickly, and efficiently.

Written by:

Bohdan Govdya

Market Researcher