In-House Recruitment vs. IT Staff Augmentation

According to the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, the number of job openings in the information industry remains high, with 207,000 jobs reported in February 2022, up from 111,000 in the same month last year. As a result, the demand for developers is expected to rise in 2022, and employers will need to find an efficient way to hire.

Company owners must recognize that the employees ultimately bring about change. There are various hiring models to consider when looking for top talent. In-house recruitment and staff augmentation will be contrasted in this article.

When should companies hire an in-house team?

An in-house activity or operation is carried out within a company rather than relying on outside providers. Tech companies use full-time employees to build their core team and culture. Furthermore, in-house employees are more motivated—they go into the product details because they are dedicated to developing the product and growing the company. As a result, at the core development stage, in-house hiring is the best solution. Here are some of the benefits and drawbacks of in-house hiring:

Pros

• Companies have more control over their in-house employees’ work direction and management than an outside contractor.
• Even remotely, local employees can come into the office when needed. Colleagues who work in the same location find it easier to collaborate with team members and colleagues from other departments.
• Same time zone: A dedicated team working on the same schedule will be able to respond quickly to urgent issues.
• Every new project provides an opportunity to expand the team’s skill set.

Cons

• Limited talent pool – Developers with expertise in both popular and niche technologies are in short supply, particularly in small cities.
• Because of additional operational and administrative costs, in-house operations can be more expensive. Employers, for example, are typically expected to contribute to retirement plans and pay for health insurance, bonuses, office rental, and workstations.
• Because of background checks and other hiring requirements, such as verifying soft skills that fit the company culture, the recruitment process can take much longer. The in-house hiring process also incurs additional costs for the human resources department, which must devote time to onboarding and acclimating a new employee to the team.
• Staff burnout and turnover necessitate more attention and oversight from the human resources department.
• Smaller businesses may not have enough work to justify hiring full-time in-house personnel.

When should companies use the staff augmentation model?

Staff augmentation allows you to expand your in-house development team quickly. This model employs full-time software engineers from outsourcing firms. Employers manage programmers and communicate with them directly instead of assigning or handing over an entire project to an IT outsourcing company. Let’s look at the benefits and drawbacks of IT staff augmentation services:

Pros

• A large talent pool and quick scalability – The staff augmentation model entails hiring developers available to work remotely worldwide. Within one week, you can have a developer with the necessary skill set.
• Unlike other project outsourcing models, contractors collaborate directly with the in-house team, and the company maintains complete control over the development process.
• Legal services and customer support are examples of staff augmentation. YouTeam, in particular, prepares the contracts, and our support team works with the client throughout the contract period. For all services, we charge our customers 10%.
• There are no additional costs – Employers are not required to pay for retirement contributions, health insurance, bonuses, vacations, office rental, or workstations. Even if a contractor’s hourly rate is higher, employers find it less expensive due to the absence of operational and administrative costs.

Cons

• Supplemented employees will not work in the office and may be less connected to the company culture.
• If you require an IT team to work in the same time zone, your options may be limited.

Significant difference between in-house recruitment and staff augmentation services.

Contractors set goals for themselves, such as gaining experience, learning new technologies, completing a project, and sharing their accomplishments on their LinkedIn page. They frequently prefer to concentrate on a specific industry or niche markets, such as fintech or healthcare.

Companies should not expect remote developers working for agencies to have the same strong bond with their brand as in-house staff. Employees in-house frequently work closely together for extended periods, allowing them to build relationships through outdoor meetings, corporate sports competitions, or attending a conference.

On the other hand, employers can still participate in online events, introduce contractors to other departments, and invite them to company office parties.

However, team augmentation excels in terms of hiring speed and a large pool of senior developers. Bestarion can provide a verified list of candidates within 1 week if clients have urgent tasks. Customers also avoid the paperwork and legal complications of full-time, official employment.

Features that are common to both in-house and staff augmentation

Despite their differences, IT staff augmentation and in-house recruitment share many similarities. Contractors and in-house engineers anticipate gaining new knowledge, experience with niche technologies, and the initiative to solve problems independently. Furthermore, these highly skilled professionals want to be recognized for their contributions to a project. As a result, they are enthusiastic about projects and anticipate long-term collaboration.

Managers must pay close attention to both hiring options during the onboarding process. To ensure developers understand the project, you must align the workflow, establish communication between in-house and remote teams, and schedule regular feedback sessions.

Staff augmentation is also as safe as in-house hiring because every developer is subjected to a background check.

Where to find and hire in-house developers

Employers can post jobs on online job boards such as Glassdoor, Indeed, or AngelList. They can also search LinkedIn profiles by filtering by industry and service category.

Hiring managers can also find potential candidates by searching Facebook groups related to a specific programming language or reaching out to the top Stack Overflow users. The latter have answered most questions about a specific technology.

Employers can meet professionals by attending local meetups or looking for developer conferences in their area.

Why Bestarion should be your next staffing agency

Bestarion’s developer pool is made up of engineers with a variety of skills, and they can quickly assemble a team for a project. Regular evaluation of software agencies is one of the mechanisms that Bestarion employs in its work with contractors. We rank software development teams that can quickly find available tech talent. Smaller agencies, in particular, assign a free developer with a specific skill set more quickly because they are less bureaucratic.

Here are some of the benefits of hiring developers through Bestarion:

• Bestarion has pre-interviewed our pool of middle and senior developers to ensure that they are the best fit to meet the needs of our customers.
• Bestarion automates the signing and billing of contracts between customers and software development vendors.
• A dedicated Customer Success Manager assists you in facilitating your collaboration with engineers and answering any legal or financial questions.
• Staff augmentation allows you to fill skill gaps with additional expertise quickly. 

Learn more about our IT Staff Augmentation Services to know how we can fill your gaps in tech and help you succeed.

Epilogue

In-house recruitment and staff augmentation attract professional developers who are excited about the projects and anticipate long-term collaboration. The key benefits of staff augmentation are the speed of hiring and the large pool of developers, whereas building a company’s core team and culture in-house is an effective option.

Please contact Bestarion if you have any questions or ideas or need assistance deciding between staff augmentation and in-house hiring.