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John Cannerborg
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Hiring contractors is becoming increasingly common among Swedish companies that need flexibility, specialist skills, long term or temporary reinforcements. Below you’ll find answers to common questions about how it works in Sweden, what to consider, and how to ensure quality when hiring contractors.
But first, what is actually the difference between: Contractors and Freelancers?
Think of a freelancer as a specialist brought in for a specific mission. They’re like a creative consultant who hops from one project to the next, often serving multiple clients at once. They're typically in full control of their schedule and work location, whether it's from their home office or a coffee shop. Freelancers are all about flexibility and autonomy.
A contractor, on the other hand, is a specialist who integrates with a team for a longer, more focused project. They can work remote, hybrid or even on-site with a single client for an extended period and follow a more traditional work schedule. They’re essentially a temporary or long term member of the client’s team, focused on delivering a defined project or service.
Contractors offer several advantages:
Flexibility – hire for a specific project or a set period
Specialist expertise – access skills that may not exist in-house
Scalability – add capacity quickly without long recruitment cycles
Cost control – pay for results or hours worked, without permanent overhead costs
Experts - no training needed, short on-boarding, communicative; which delivers value from first worked hour
This makes contractors particularly valuable for fast growing companies, startups, scale-ups, and companies with temporary projects or skills gaps.
Yes.
Many companies hire individual consultants for specific tasks such as frontend development, compliance, or design.
It is also possible to hire entire contractor teams, for example a cross-functional product team with developers, designers, and project managers. For instance, Teampilot is one of few prime Swedish agencies that offer full managed teams, that can either develop a product for you or even manage all IT and system development from prototyping to operations.
The most in-demand roles are in tech and digitalization:
Frontend and backend developers
Full-stack and mobile developers
Data scientists and AI/ML specialists
Cloud and DevOps engineers
UI/UX designers
Product managers and project leads
Fractional CTO
There is also increasing demand in areas like compliance, marketing, and design.
Yes. Sweden has a well-established consultant and freelance market. Many professionals run their own enskild firma (sole proprietorship) or aktiebolag (limited company). work as a contractor is especially widespread in IT, finance, design, and creative industries.
They invoice you for the work performed
They are responsible for their own taxes and social fees
You avoid the obligations of being an employer (e.g. payroll tax, pension)
Contracts are usually signed per project, per month, or as a framework agreement.
It is important to clearly think through the relationship to avoid confusion and misaligned expectations.
Employee: protected under Swedish labor law, entitled to benefits, vacation, pension, and sick leave pay.
Contractor: independent contractor, responsible for own taxes and benefits, engaged through a contract.
IT-Consultant: typically a company that offers full projects or resources with their own employees. The consulting company is responsible for the delivery according to the contract, and can often change resources as they wish.
Most contractors in Sweden are registered for VAT (25%). They add VAT to invoices, which your company can usually deduct as input VAT.
Depending on the country of residence of the contractor and the contractor agency, the VAT terms may differ. When hiring through a Swedish agency like Teampilot, we handle all these things for you and ensure that everything is compliant to the local regulations.
If you want to contract contractors locally on your own, your business usually need to be registered in Sweden or operate through a local branch. International companies can also contract Swedish contractors, but invoicing may require cross-border arrangements. No matter what country your company is registret you can always hire contractors from Teampilot.
Ensuring high quality of the contractors and ensuring regulatory compliance is a common headache when hiring through large international platforms such as Upwork.
Best practices include:
Reviewing portfolios and references
Verify identity
Checking F-tax (F-skattsedel) registration
Running technical or work-related tests
Starting with a smaller project before committing long-term
When working with local agencies like Teampilot, all of this is handled. We ensure the quality level of all contractors, as well as full regulatory compliance.
Options include:
Personal networks and recommendations
Contractor platforms (e.g. Teampilot, Upwork)
Recruitment agencies specializing in IT and consulting
Contractorsmap and niche job boards
Yes. Many Swedish contractors work fully remote. For industries that require physical presence (e.g. hardware testing, compliance audits), contractors can work onsite. Hybrid arrangements are also common.
Typically invoiced monthly or per milestone
Payment terms are usually 15–30 days, but some large enterprises use 60-90 days :(
Contractors with F-tax handle their own tax and VAT
Platforms like Teampilot offers 1 monthly invoice for all your contractors.
Yes. Many Swedish contractors already work with clients abroad. English proficiency is generally high, making cross-border collaboration straightforward.
Hire a contractor when you:
Need long-term reinforcement fast
Need short-term reinforcement fast
No time for long on-boarding
Want to test a new project before committing to permanent staff
Need skills not available in-house
Face peaks in workload that don’t justify a full-time hire
Yes. Contractors often integrate into client teams using tools like Slack, Jira, and GitHub. They can participate in daily standups, planning sessions, and contribute like internal staff—without being employed.
The process is much faster than traditional recruitment. With a good network or platform, you can often start within a week.
It’s common to start with a trial period or short contract. If it doesn’t work, you can end the collaboration with shorter notice than an employment contract would require.
While there are many ways to find contractors in Sweden, Teampilot offers unique advantages for companies that want a structured, reliable solution:
Vetted global talent pool – all experts are screened for skills and experience
Flexible contracts – hire part-time, full-time, or per project
Digital contracts & compliance – aligned with Swedish and EU standards
Payments in SEK – with invoicing and VAT handled correctly
Scandinavian work culture – focus on collaboration, transparency, and long-term engagements
Contact us here to speed up your project today!
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