With so many project deadlines and milestones in the gaming industry, you may not have the full-time staff available to complete the work needed on your target timeline. If you’re in need of roles such as engineers, game designers, producers, recruiters, or artists, gaming studio contractors can help fill in the gaps.
Contractors work for a company for an agreed-upon amount of time. They can supplement the talent shortage you’re facing, as well as provide cost-saving benefits compared to hiring more full-time employees.
The gaming industry is one of the most popular industries known for hiring contractors since specific game development requires specific skills. According to an October 2022 report by Bain & Company, most video game company executives cite talent as their number one priority, as the talent supply isn’t keeping pace with demand.
Contractors can provide a helpful solution in gaming. According to the latest figures from Statista, there were 13.6 million temporary and contract staffing employees in 2020.
Here’s a look at why gaming companies and studios might consider hiring contractors and how they can use them to achieve business success.
1. Contractors Offer Predictability
When you need a worker for specific duties in a specific time period, hiring a contractor makes perfect sense. Contractors are hired to complete the exact work your gaming studio needs in the time you need it. They know what to focus on, so you can get tasks completed on your ideal timeline.
You also run less risk of disrupting your company culture by hiring a contract worker, as the contract only lasts a few months to around a year. That enables you to retain a lean full-time team if that’s what’s best for your business. If the contract worker ends up being a great addition, you can explore hiring them full-time, too.
2. Contractors Save Money
Hiring full-time employees are typically more expensive compared to hiring contractors, even when the contractor’s hourly wage is higher. That’s because gaming studios can lower costs using contractors since they can save on expenses like health insurance benefits, sick days, retirement matching, and vacation time.
Plus, hiring and onboarding costs can decrease significantly. When you work with a gaming recruiter like ggLocators, you can get talent more quickly for your projects. You can have contractors get right to work, to make projects more efficient.
3. Contractors Help You Grow with Less Risk
Contractors can help your gaming studio build momentum, without being on the hook for increasing your full-time staff. If you want to scale and grow with less risk, you can hire contractors without having to deal with retention issues or having to lay off staff if you have trouble sustaining growth in the future.
Contractors can help you make strides when you have a big opportunity or want to make a push for a major release that could position your gaming company for growth, without having to commit to the worker at this moment.
4. Gaming Companies Can Test-Drive Employees
Replacing a full-time employee costs around one-third of the employee’s full-time salary, according to the Society for Human Resources Management. In addition to hard costs like recruiting, background checks, drug screens, and temp workers to make up for the lost employee, there are soft costs like reduced productivity, interview time, and lost knowledge.
With contract workers, you have the ability to test-drive workers for your gaming organization to ensure they’ll be a fit as a full-time employee. You can learn more about their work ethic and skillset, determine if they’re a culture fit with other employees, and consider whether they’d be needed for future projects. If you do decide to hire a contract worker, that saves you more time and money from having to begin the recruitment cycle over again.
5. Contract Workers Strengthen Your Existing Team
When you work with contractors, you can devote more time to developing your full-time staff, as the contractors take on whatever work is needed in the meantime. Contractors ensure you keep making project deadlines and enable you to give your full-time staff more opportunities to focus on developing their skills and using their strengths.
Bringing on contractors helps you avoid burning out your full-time staff or overloading them with extra tasks. That can boost morale throughout your workforce, which can have a positive effect on your corporate culture. Plus, contractors can add innovative ideas to your gaming team that help strengthen its achievements.
Hire Contract Workers Now with ggLocators
Our gaming recruiting firm ggLocators specializes in contract and contract-to-hire staffing solutions for the gaming industry. You can access an on-demand talent pipeline of contract workers now to fill needs at your gaming company. To learn more, contact ggLocators.
