3 ms·

In my experience, we have hired remote coders exclusively through services like Upwork. And if there is anyone we really like to work with, we'll bring them in

In my experience, we have hired remote coders exclusively through services like Upwork. And if there is anyone we really like to work with, we'll bring them in on a longer term contract based on their availability. But we have never, ever hired a part-time employee "from the street". Part-time professional employees in the US are really disadvantaged these days because you still have to pay full benefits, so per-hour they are much more expensive than just hiring a full time employee and splitting their time between projects. Also, recruiting and interviewing is a huge time suck, especially just for someone who only does half time. So usually I have seen more contract-to-hire approaches.

ranger_danger 2y ago
> you still have to pay full benefits source?
- newaccount74 2y ago
  I'm not sure how health insurance works in the US. In Europe, health insurance and social security is just a percentage of your wage. So for the employer it doesn't matter how many hours you are employed, taxes and health insurance is just a percentage. I was under the impression that in the US health insurance is a fixed cost, that depends mostly on what is covered, but it doesn't depend on the income of the individual. So if an employer offers health insurance to part time employees, the cost would be the same as for a full time employee.
  - ranger_danger 2y ago
    Social security is a percentage, but since health insurance is not usually provided by the government (unless you have Medicare/Medicaid), you pay a flat fee to a private company regardless of income. But my understanding is that companies are not required to provide any benefits to part-time workers whatsoever, and frequently use that loophole to avoid having to pay, by making their workers either subcontractors or part-time. https://www.healthcare.gov/part-time-workers/ https://www.healthcare.gov/part-time-workers/

ranger_danger 2y ago

> you still have to pay full benefits source?

newaccount74 2y ago
I'm not sure how health insurance works in the US. In Europe, health insurance and social security is just a percentage of your wage. So for the employer it doesn't matter how many hours you are employed, taxes and health insurance is just a percentage. I was under the impression that in the US health insurance is a fixed cost, that depends mostly on what is covered, but it doesn't depend on the income of the individual. So if an employer offers health insurance to part time employees, the cost would be the same as for a full time employee.
- ranger_danger 2y ago
  Social security is a percentage, but since health insurance is not usually provided by the government (unless you have Medicare/Medicaid), you pay a flat fee to a private company regardless of income. But my understanding is that companies are not required to provide any benefits to part-time workers whatsoever, and frequently use that loophole to avoid having to pay, by making their workers either subcontractors or part-time. https://www.healthcare.gov/part-time-workers/ https://www.healthcare.gov/part-time-workers/