By JP Rooney, Senior Tech Contract Recruitment Specialist at Vanrath
AI is understandably creating uncertainty for IT professionals. Many are questioning what it means for their jobs, their future careers and the value of the skills they have spent years developing.
But I believe we should be asking a bigger question: are businesses using AI to become more productive, competitive and profitable, or simply to reduce costs?
AI has enormous potential to help organisations increase output, improve efficiency, accelerate projects and create new commercial opportunities. Used well, it can enable talented people to achieve more, rather than simply reducing the number of people required to do the same work.
READ MORE: From Recruiter to Shareholder: Barbara McKiernan's Remarkable 21-Year Journey at VANRATH
Businesses invest considerable time and money in finding excellent staff. Those employees, in turn, invest their knowledge, experience and effort into helping their employers succeed. Surely there is a strong argument for giving those people the tools to become even more effective?
Of course, cost control matters, and AI will inevitably change some roles. But a business that uses technology to innovate, grow and create opportunities has a compelling proposition for both its employees and prospective talent. The opportunity is not just to become leaner, but to become bigger and better.
Where contracting comes in
Working in contract and interim IT recruitment, I’ve seen how organisations going through takeovers, restructures and redundancies can still have significant work to deliver. Essential systems need to run, IT services must continue, and projects often cannot wait for permanent recruitment plans to be agreed.
This highlights an interesting contradiction: permanent employees may be made redundant while contractors remain in place to deliver essential work. It challenges the assumption that permanent employment is always the safer option, although contracting certainly carries its own risks.
For businesses, contractors can provide specialist skills, additional capacity and immediate delivery without the same long-term commitment as a permanent hire. They can help maintain business continuity, deliver time-sensitive projects and steady the ship while an organisation works through change.
For IT professionals, contracting offers a different set of opportunities. It can provide exposure to new environments, fresh challenges and the chance to demonstrate their value through delivery rather than interview performance alone. For those with in-demand skills, it can also offer greater earning potential, although work and extensions are never guaranteed.
There is a benefit on both sides: businesses gain access to the expertise they need when they need it for as long as they need it, while professionals can build experience, strengthen their adaptability and prove what they can do.
READ MORE: AI, Quantum Tech & the Future of Tech Recruitment
Rethinking the future of IT work
AI will continue to change the skills organisations need and how technology teams operate. The answer is not to ignore the risks, but to recognise the opportunities alongside them.
That means investing in technology intelligently, retaining and developing valuable employees, and considering flexible resourcing where permanent headcount is not viable or appropriate.
From what I’ve seen in the recruitment market, contracting deserves to be viewed as more than a stopgap between permanent roles. It can be a deliberate business strategy and a worthwhile career choice in its own right.
Shouldn't the ambition be to use AI to help businesses grow, increase output and create opportunities for their people - rather than focusing primarily on doing more with fewer people, and as organisations navigate that change, could contractors keep businesses moving forward while giving skilled IT professionals new ways to demonstrate their value?
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