Staff augmentation is a great way to get the help you need for your business without having to commit to hiring a full-time employee. Recruitment is a long process from job advertisement to onboarding. You probably don’t have the luxury of time and patience which could be an average of two months, but IT staff augmentation can enable you to meet your needs regardless if it’s short term or long-term contract!
But how do you go about finding the right staffing agency and making sure that you’re getting the most out of your relationship with them?
Origami has put together this guide to help you make the most of your staff augmentation experience. From finding an agency to setting expectations and managing costs, we’ll cover everything you need to know in order to get the most out of working with a staffing company. So Whether you’re just getting started with staff augmentation or hiring independent contractors, temporary staff or best tech talent, this guide contains many useful resources that will round out your knowledge. Let’s start!
Staff Augmentation Meaning
Staff augmentation is the process of helping an organization’s existing workforce with additional resources. The supplementary employees may be sourced from within the organization, through an external agency, or via some on demand talent platforms.
It can provide businesses with the flexibility to respond quickly to changing circumstances and demands, without incurring the costs associated with hiring full-time employees. It helps to support the in house team to respond to sudden or planned changes in requirements.
The term “staff augmentation” has been used in the business world since at least the early 1990s. It gained popularity as a staffing strategy in the late 1990s and early 2000s, as businesses sought ways to respond to the increasing demand for skilled workers and the accompanying shortage of qualified candidates.
Market Size & Trends
Market Size:
The staff augmentation market is expected to grow from USD 71.4 billion in 2020 to USD 103.8 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 7.9% during the forecast period. The major drivers for the market include the need for reducing operational costs and the increasing demand for skilled resources.
Trends:
In recent years, finding the IT staff augmentation talent has become an increasingly popular business strategy in the United States.
Businesses of all sizes are turning to outside agencies to supplement their workforce, and the trend shows no signs of slowing down. There are many reasons for this shift, but the most often cited reason is the need for flexibility.
In today’s fast-paced economy, businesses need to be able to respond quickly to changes in customer demand with limited in house team. By augmenting their staff, they can do just that. Additionally, it can help businesses save money on overhead costs such as benefits and salaries. And finally, it can help businesses to overcome the skill gap and tap into a wider pool of talent.
Staff augmentation requirements are most prevalent in Kansas, Virginia, South Carolina, New York, Texas, Maryland, Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Illinois, California, New Jersey, and Ohio.
“In recent years, a surge in demand for IT staff augmentation has been observed.“
Information Technology – IT Staff Augmentation Services, a Famous Trend in the market
Information Technology – IT staff augmentation services is one of the most famous trends in the staffing industry. Many companies are now opting for IT staff augmentation services to meet their IT needs.
Pros and Cons of Staff augmentation Vs Contractors
Types of Staff Augmentation
There are several different types of staff augmentation that businesses can utilize in order to supplement their workforce and improve efficiency.
Onshore Staff Augmentation
It is the process of adding additional staff to an organization that is based in the same country. This is often done to meet a short-term need or demand, and can be done either through direct hiring or by contracting with an outside firm.
Offshore Staff Augmentation
It is similar to onshore staff augmentation, but instead of adding staff within the same country, organizations look to find highly skilled resources in other countries. This can be done for a variety of reasons, including cost savings or to find workers with specific skill sets.
Nearshore Staff Augmentation
It is a type of staff augmentation that involves adding staff who are based in a nearby country. This can be an attractive option for organizations that want to avoid the challenges associated with working with staff in different time zones or who may have difficulty communicating across language barriers.
When to Use Staff Augmentation?
A business can decide to go for IT staff augmentation:
1. Scaling an In-House Team:
When a company is experiencing rapid growth and needs to scale its IT operations quickly, staff augmentation can be an effective way to meet the increased demand.
2. Enhance Specific Skills with Augmented Staff:
If the company is embarking on a major digital transformation initiative, it may need to supplement its in-house IT team with outside experts who have specific expertise in the areas being transformed.
3. Revamping Capabilities & Increase Domain Knowledge:
In cases where a company needs to quickly ramp up its IT capabilities to respond to a sudden change in business conditions, such as an acquisition or a new product launch, staff augmentation can help get the job done.
4. Increased Workload:
When a company is facing a short-term spike in IT workload, such as during a busy holiday season, staff augmentation can provide the extra resources needed to get through the peak period.
5. Bridge a Gap:
In situations where a company needs to fill a temporary vacancy on its IT team, such as for maternity or paternity leave, staff augmentation can be used to maintain continuity of operations.
6. Dealing With a Short Deadline With Augmented Staff:
You probably don’t have the luxury of time and patience which could be an average of two months, but IT staff augmentation can enable you to meet your needs regardless if it’s a short-term or long-term contract!
Explore The Benefits of IT Staff Augmentation
1. Cost Savings
It brings a cost effective way to meet your IT needs to ensure high productivity. This is because you do not have to pay for the full-time salary of an employee. Instead, you only have to pay for the hours that they work.
2. Flexible
It brings flexibility by finding staff augmentation talent for a short period of time or for a long period of time on a project by project basis.
3. Quality
Engaging staff augmentation talent brings high-quality and cost effective employees. This is because staffing companies only hire the best employees.
4. Scalable
IT staff augmentation is a scalable way to meet your IT needs. This is because you can increase or decrease the number of employees as needed.
5. Reduced time-to-market
The businesses can quickly ramp up their workforce to meet an increase in demand and launch products quickly.
6. Access to skilled workers
IT staff augmentation gives you access to skilled outside personnel.
7.Improved productivity
You can hire based on experience and experience to improve productivity within your team.
8. Increased customer satisfaction
Great talent provides better solutions and services to increase your customer satisfaction.
9. Access to new talent
Staffing companies understand your objective perspective and usually hire only the best employees.
10. Access to a global workforce
It can give you access to a global workforce. This is because staffing companies have employees all over the world.
Staff Augmentation Challenges
Despite the many benefits, there are some challenges that businesses need to be aware of.
These challenges include:
1. Finding a Reputable Staffing Company
Not all staffing companies are created equal. When choosing a staffing company, it is important to do your research to ensure that you are working with a reputable and experienced provider.
2. Managing Multiple Independent Contractors
When using staff augmentation, businesses will need to manage multiple contractors. This can be challenging for businesses that are not used to working with contractors.
3. Training and Onboarding
When bringing on new employees, it is important to properly train and onboard them. This can be challenging when working with employees who are located in different parts of the world.
4. Managing Expectations
It is important to manage the expectations of both employees and clients when using different types of staff augmentation. There can be a disconnect between the expectations of employees and the reality of the work they will be doing.
5. Ensuring Quality
It is extremely critical for businesses to ensure that they are receiving quality work from their contractors. This can be challenging when working with employees who are located in different parts of the world.
6. Communication & Time Zones
Different time zones can make it hard for teams to collaborate. When different people are working at different times, it can be hard to understand each other. And if people are in different parts of the world, they might speak different languages, which can create more confusion.
7. Security Concerns
If you don’t monitor or manage staffing properly, it can lead to security issues. Businesses can lose data, source code, and other confidential information if the newly hired people are not bound with a proper contract.
Staff Augmentation Process Flow
The staff augmentation process typically begins with a need assessment, in which the company identifies the specific skills and experience that are required.
Once the requirements have been established, the company will then begin the process of sourcing and selecting candidates.
The final step is to onboard and train the new staff members, so that they can hit the ground running and start making an immediate impact.
We have explained each step with some tips:
Choosing the Right Staff Augmentation Model
There are a few different types of models that businesses can use including:
1. Full-time Augmented Staff
In this model, businesses will hire employees to work a certain number of hours each week to meet submission deadlines. This is similar to a traditional full-time employee, but the employees will be working for a staffing company instead of the business directly like an in house team. There are no hidden costs involved.
2. Part-time Augmented Staff
In this staff augmentation model, businesses will hire employees to work a certain number of hours each week. This is similar to a traditional part-time employee, but the employees will be working for a staffing company instead of the business directly.
3. Project by Project Augmented Team
In this staff augmentation model, businesses will have an augmented team to work on a specific project development or longer projects. Once the project is completed, the employees will be released from their contract.
4. Retainer to Bridge Skill Gap
In this model, businesses will pay an outsourcing company a certain amount each month. The staffing company will then provide a certain number of hours of work each month.
5. Hourly
In this model, businesses will pay a staffing company for the hours that their employees work. This is similar to a traditional hourly employee, but the employees will be working for a staffing company instead of the business directly. This is one of the most adopted staff augmentation solutions.
Staff Augmentation Pricing Ideas
Here is a list of possible augmented staff rates:
1. Hourly rate – $25-$100 per hour
2. Daily rate – $200-$500 per day
3. Weekly rate – $1,000-$5,000 per week
4. Monthly rate – $4,000-$20,000 per month
5. Project-based rate – Varies depending on the project
6. Retainer-based rate – $2,500-$5,000 per month
7. Equity-based compensation – Varies depending on the company
8. Commission-based compensation – Varies depending on the company
9. Bonuses – Varies depending on the company
10. Employee referral fees – $500-$1,000 per employee referred
The augmented staff rates vary on a regional basis. The following guides provide information about:
Popular Industries Using Staff Augmentation
Nearly every industry is leveraging this strategy to some degree, and the benefits are clear. By supplementing your in house staff with outside expertise, you can boost efficiency, reduce costs, and scale your operations more quickly.
But which industries are making the most use of staff augmentation?
Here are a few examples:
Information Technology:
The tech industry is notoriously fast-paced, and companies are always looking for ways to gain a competitive edge. Staff augmentation allows them to tap into specialized skills and knowledge on an as-needed basis, without having to incur the costs of full-time employees.
Healthcare:
The healthcare industry is under immense pressure to improve patient outcomes while also reducing costs. Staff augmentation provides a way to address these challenges by bringing in expert clinicians and other professionals to provide care and support services.
Manufacturing:
The manufacturing sector is facing significant challenges in the supply chain and labor shortages. Staff augmentation can help companies respond quickly to these challenges by providing access to skilled workers when and where they’re needed.
These are just a few examples of industries taking advantage of this staffing model. As the benefits of this strategy become more widely known, it’s likely that even more industries will start to leverage this approach.
Finding the best IT Staff Augmentation Services
When it comes to finding the right IT staff augmentation solutions providers, there are a few things to keep in mind. First and foremost, you’ll want to make sure that the staff augmentation providers you select have experience in the IT industry and understand skills needed. Additionally, there are tips you can follow and select the right staff augmentation agency or service provider for your business.
Read Also: Tips to select the best IT Staff Augmentation Company
How Origami Studios Can Help in IT Staff Augmentation
As one of the leading staff augmentation service providers in the USA, Origami has a wealth of experience in providing IT staffing solutions based on requirements and budgets.
We have an in-house staff of 100+ people ready to take up the challenge. The company also recruits IT professionals on behalf of its clients and helps them with their staffing needs.
Origami Studios has a team of experienced recruiters who are well-versed in the latest IT trends and technologies. This enables them to implement the right outsourcing strategy and outsourcing models to identify the right candidates for highly skilled work.
Moreover, the company has a strong network of IT professionals, project managers, and temporary workers which makes it easier to find the right candidates for the job. We understand your business objectives and implement the right recruitment process that your project requires. This makes us the perfect IT staffing provider in the region.
Our staff augmentation services include:
- Adding a temporary team member to your IT team to fill gaps.
- Outsourcing software developers for a particular project.
- Help you hire independent contractors to join your IT workforce and boost productivity.
- Dedicated software development team with technical expertise.
- Help you have a permanent team of project managers to manage the in-house or remote teams.
- Give access to our global pool of experts to work on long projects or continuing projects.
- Provide temporary employees having particular skills.
- Specialized professionals for ongoing support projects.
- Have in-house teams for short-term projects.
- Provide Temporary staffing service to perform frequent security audits
These services are designed to help clients with their specific needs and requirements. As a result, Origami Studios is one of the leading staff augmentation companies that provides IT staffing solutions based on requirements and budgets.
Conclusion
Staff augmentation is becoming an increasingly popular way for businesses to get the right talent on board quickly and cost-effectively. By taking the time to list down your specific requirements, you can find an agency that meets your needs perfectly. Not only will this save you time and money, but it will also ensure that you get the most out of your staff augmentation services.
Are you interested in working with an award-winning IT staff augmentation agency? If so, contact us today for a free consultation. We would be happy to discuss our augmentation services with you and answer any questions you may have. We have been helping businesses with staff augmentation services since 2014 and are ready to work with you. Our experts will brief you about all possible types of staff augmentation suitable for your business and pick the right outsourcing model to ensure high productivity.