A UK I.T company that I work for are interested in setting up a branch office in Spain. They are looking for contractors so that they can issue out 3-6 month contracts which may get extended depending on how the business goes. However, I noticed that the recruitment agencies in Spain seem to cater for permanent positions only (they are temp agencies but its pretty much the same thing).

Three questions:
1) Is the I.T contract market big in Spain?
2) What’s the best way to attract I.T contractors (I imagine recruitment websites)?
3) Are there any pitfalls in hiring contractors? For example, legal obligations, taxes etc.

Thanks in advance

I’ve worked myself as a contractor from time to time and it’s true that the majority of the IT professional positions are full time permanent positions. In order to hire IT contractors, you may have to either try these same agencies but explicitly ask for temp personnel, I’m sure they’re quite flexible since you will be their client. Check with recruitspain.com and wemploy.com. Your best solution is recruiting on university campuses (US style) where these IT students may look for part-time work while finishing school. Use the university websites for leads to start a hiring campaign or just post on their sites.

As for hiring contractors, there are few things you may need to verify. Make sure they are “autonomos” basically they’re self-employed and pay their own taxes and obligations. This way, you can write them off as company expense. Ask for their CIF (tax ID). That’s very general and they’re from my personal experience as an ex-contractor and not as an employer, so I recommend a legal expert on these matters.