You need to hire a new resource for your project. What would be the important considerations? Cost? Quality? Cost versus quality? Would you hire a freelancer? Or would you hire an employee? Would you choose an employee over a freelancer because that is cheaper? Let's do a comparison and find out.
1) Cost comparison of a new resource
We need to compare apples with apples. Hence, we need to compare two resouces with the same background and experience. One is a freelancer and the other one is an employee. The manager that will hire the resource has a budget to respect and we all know what that means. The number he will compare is the cost per month for an employee. Hence my question, is the cost per month really higher for a freelancer than for a fixed employee?
One thing that is straight forward, is that the price per hour for a freelancer is all-inclusive. One invoice to be processed every month. No surprises. The employee cost however, is far more complicated to calculate. It needs to include variable and fixed costs, like for the payroll processing, the benefits, 13th even 14th month, nbsp;the office space, the office supplies, ... . The cost can change due to changes to the (labor) law, price increases, increased taxes, salary increase, ... . The list is long. The real cost for an employee will be comparable to the cost of a freelancer. But without the benefits of a freelancer.
2) Brain drain
You need an employee to keep the knowledge in house, right? That seems to be the common assumption. However, an employee that leaves, is no longer motivated to transfer knowledge. The mind has already switched to the new challenge ahead. Sure, you can have contracts that keep your employee for 6 months after giving notice. But, do you honestly think that is a good idea? I don't. Everybody wants to transfer immediately not in 6 months. Nothing good will come from that kind of arrangement. A freelancer contract can have the same agreements as for employees for retaining knowledge. Nothing to prevent to go ahead with a freelancer in the same way as with an employee. And in the technology sector, things change fast. Lifetime employment is already dead for decades. Employers cut costs which means lay-offs and employees get the necessary experience to get a better position somewhere else. It's just a matter of observing and being realistic. Brain drain is not a limiting factor for freelance versus employee. It's a myth.
3) Performance
As an employee, you have quite a few laws protecting you against getting fired, for example for medical reasons. A day without working for a freelancer is a day without income.