The Staff Augmentation Model: Build High-Performing Teams & Reduce Costs
This year, the tech industry has seen swift and far-reaching changes. Accelerating technological advancements, an economic recession and increased competition for top talent have tightened budgets and increased the pressure on leaders to attract and retain skilled technical talent.
Now more than ever, staff augmentation can provide a viable, cost-effective option for growing technical teams.
In this post, we’ll share an overview of the staff augmentation model and how it can help you build high-performing teams, gain a competitive edge, and scale your business during uncertain times.
Table Of Contents
- What is Staff Augmentation?
- How Software Teams can Leverage Staff Augmentation in 2024
- When to Hire a Full-Time Employee vs Leverage Staff Augmentation
- Comparing 3 Main Types of IT Staff Augmentation Platforms
- Advantages of Pre-Vetted Freelance Marketplaces for Staff Augmentation
- Final Thoughts: Staff Augmentation vs Permanent Staff
What is Staff Augmentation?
Staff augmentation is a hiring model where companies of all sizes can hire staff on an as-needed basis. In the tech sector, this could be to hire remote developers with specialized skills to develop products or features in an existing product niche, or even to enter a new market. This approach helps leadership teams be agile, flexible, and cost-conscious: staff augmentation helps you avoid the long-term and financial commitment of permanent employees, which can be especially useful in times of economic uncertainty.
To use an example, let’s say you have an immediate need for a front-end developer to work on a data visualization project, but you’re not yet sure if there will be an ongoing need for this skillset after the project concludes. In this scenario, a full-time hire may feel risky: the cost of hiring and training is a commitment, and if it turns out you must let them go after the project wraps up, this termination could hurt morale. What’s more, rehiring the same skillset if it’s needed again in the future is costly.
Compare this with contracting a remote, freelance developer for this project. You can bring them on for the duration of the project, without shouldering the costs of permanent staffing. It leaves the door open for longer-term work, but your requirements are transparent. So, if you no longer need the contractor after the project ends, the impact on your team is substantially less.
