With news headlines and falling figures sparking fears of a recession, what does this mean for your business, and how can you prepare for it in the best way possible? Read on to find out how outsourcing with KWAN can help your business through the most difficult of times.
What is a recession?
Defined as a significant decline in economic activity that lasts for months or even years, experts declare a recession when a nation’s economy experiences negative gross domestic product (GDP), rising levels of unemployment, falling retail sales, and contracting measures of income and manufacturing for an extended period of time. Recessions are considered an unavoidable part of the regular cadence of expansion and contraction that occurs in a nation’s economy.
Why do people believe a recession is coming?
In the United States, due to the weight of high inflation rates and fast monetary tightening, the economic outlook isn’t bright for 2023 which means that a recession is likely imminent. Issues like decreased consumer and business confidence, reduced consumption and investment, and geopolitical frictions are key risks tipping the American economy into recession.
In the UK, even though consumers and businesses face the pressure of the Bank’s interest rates fluctuation, economists say that the UK will still slowly grow, with a GPD just above zero. The current inflation rate will be halved, and also the National Institute of Economic & Social Research (NIESR) has forecast that interest rate rises are likely almost finished. However, this is as far as optimism goes, with NIESR warning that this period will certainly feel like a recession.
Predictions for Europe’s economy are a lot more positive. Inflation peaked in 2022 and Europe managed to significantly reduce energy dependence and prices. The labor market also remains very strong. It is likely that Europe will not only evade a deep recession but actually enter a mild contraction.
Why should business owners plan for a recession?
While, of course, it is much easier to hope that it won’t happen, we recommend business owners prepare themselves and take precautionary measures to get their companies through difficult times. Outsourcing is a great way of doing this.
What is outsourcing?
Outsourcing involves an agreement in which one company hires another company to be responsible for a planned or existing activity that is or could be done internally – so instead of hiring new employees, you simply buy that service from another company – and sometimes involves transferring employees and assets from one firm to another. Hiring KWAN as a business partner to provide talented IT professionals to your project will not only save you time and money to focus on your goals (and adapt them according to the circumstances), but it will also help you build a great, highly skilled, and stable tech team to help you reach those milestones successfully.
5 reasons why outsourcing with KWAN will proactively and cost-effectively help your company through a recession
The process of getting you the best tech talent starts by assessing the needs of your team and building a strategy tailored to your business. Next, you interview our talent shortlist to find the tech talent to match your team perfectly. Finally, we then proceed to take care of your team through day-to-day coaching and mentoring. See below our top 5 reasons why outsourcing with KWAN will proactively and cost-effectively help your company through a recession.
1. Easily Cover Your Needs
With over 15 years of experience in recruiting tech talent, we have interviewed more than 25,000 tech candidates, so our recruiters know the market very well, and so we can present you a shortlist of candidates ready for you to interview in less than 5 days – and for some specific positions even less than 3 days!
By attempting the hiring process on your own, on the other hand, you would have to spend more time searching, screening, and evaluating candidates, and you would also have to take care of the bureaucratic part of hiring: paying 23,75% of salaries to Social Security, communicating the admission of your employees on the Social Security platform, organizing the mandatory medical exams, and paying for work insurance. You would also need to find a partner to take care of the payroll, according to Portuguese law.
Fortunately, all of this is already included in KWAN’s rate, so we take care of everything.
2. Satisfy Your Team’s Needs
After finding the tech professionals that perfectly fit your project and your tech team, our team of People Managers is here to support and guide employees in every aspect of their professional and personal life. They are specialists in managing, motivating, anticipating, and avoiding eventual employee turnover and conflict management.
How does it work?
Each consultant is assigned a People Manager, a trained coaching professional who will be in charge of carrying out frequent follow-ups to make sure they are carrying out their job effectively. If a red flag is detected, our People Managers will communicate with your Account Manager, who will meet with you and report on every single detail worth reporting. From coding training to negotiating with landlords, from managing a communication conflict with a colleague to choosing the right school for their children, our People Managers are here for your team and their success, every step of the way!
We wrote an article exclusively about the extraordinary work performed by People Managers together with some of our client’s tech teams. Check it out, here.
Taking care of your team is also taking care of their health, therefore, every worker sourced through KWAN will be given a private health plan. This service is already included in our rate, and this way, your workers do not need to depend on the overloaded Portuguese public health system. It will also automatically give new employees a sense of security and appreciation for your business.
3. No Equipment and Software Costs
Now we have your employees taken care of, let’s talk about equipment and software expenses. Luckily, by outsourcing with KWAN, this is already provided! This means that every worker will have access to an i7 laptop with Windows and at least 8GB RAM. We offer this service already included in our rate so you don’t have to worry about finding a provider. Should you need specific technologies, or computers with more power, things can smoothly be arranged upon negotiation. This deal can save you a lot of money in the long run, especially if your company expands its number of employees or in case your business is affected by a recession.
4. Lay Off Stress-Free
We all know that one of the worst things to do in a company is laying off hard-working staff because of a lack of funds. It is never an easy task! We understand this, which is why we offer a slightly different approach, which turns out easier for both your company and your workers. Outsourcing with KWAN brings less risk via contract flexibility. If there comes a time when you need to lay off an employee, you won’t have to deal with rigid Portuguese labor law. Rather, all you need to do is simply communicate that to the worker with a 30 days notice period. Then, this gives us time to find a new project for our KWANer, so they won’t have to worry about becoming unemployed. It’s a win-win and hassle-free scenario, ensuring the protection of your ex-employee and your reputation as an employer.
5. Salary Payment Flexibility
With inflation affecting not only basic goods – such as food – but also the mortgages families pay to the bank, and fuel, being able to pay salaries at the end of the month – with no delay – is essential!
To help your business manage its cash flow, outsourcing with KWAN allows for a negotiation of payment deadlines. This means that if something unexpected happens and you can’t pay the salaries until the due date, your consultants receive their salary regardless, and your company brand won’t be harmed.
We showed you 5 ways how KWAN can help your company; do you need more?
Outsourcing with KWAN offers many advantages and cost-cutting perks to ensure your company has enough support to get through a recession. Not only do you as an employer receive expert recruitment advice and ongoing support but the workers themselves are also provided with great deals such as health service, mentoring, guaranteed payment, and job security.
Get started today and click here to learn more about how KWAN can help build your business during the possible upcoming recession.