I frequently use part-time people through Upwork. My highest-paid dev makss $125/hr, has no other contracts right now, and works 10 hrs/wk. He spends the rest of his time on his own projects.
Our contractors range from $20/hr for something like content migration to $150/hr for someone who has built multiple products from scratch, been the CTO of startups, and has years of experience in coding, team management, architecture/system design, and infrastructure.
I've observed other people under-paying someone hourly and ending up spending a lot more in the long run. The most cost-effective strategy is to find the right person and pay them what they're worth. If you don't have the money to do that, you don't have the money to be in business.
> Do you monitor his screen though?
No. That's an insane practice, and it's shameful that Upwork promotes it. Anyone who needs to do that is incompetent at assessing talent and/or managing it.
> I heard up work makes you install something like that?
It does not force you, as far as I know. Our contractors log their time manually, and we trust them.
I prefer fixed-fee, but the way we run hourly work is similar in practice. We guarantee a minimum number of hours, and we expect a certain amount to get done.
As long as it gets done, what do I care if they finished it 2 hours faster? Whatever money I recovered by micromanaging, I'd end up losing again because micromanaging takes up my time (and drives talent away).
do you have any advice for someone who can't afford to start at the bottom and work their way up? how do i screen clients and avoid the bad ones?