Staff augmentation is observed as a flexible outsourcing program that facilitates companies to hire tech professionals worldwide. It enables a firm to manage the augmented team. Staff augmentation helps companies hiring the candidates that are best fit for project demands. It comes with the flexibility to extend or cut the augmented staff as per business requirements. Start-ups and growing businesses alike prefer the staff augmentation model.

Every big and small business needs skill resources to achieve business goals. Companies leverage staff augmentation because of its multiple advantages. It enables them to get industry experts from any location of the world. The resource they get also fits in their budget due to different geography. It saves companies from operational costs and additional headaches associated with providing infrastructure and employee benefits. Besides, it serves as a cost-effective option.

Different types of staff augmentation include commodity, skill-based, and highly skilled. Commodity includes workers to undertake a job with no special skillset. It involves working in a factory, warehouse, events, or retail. Skill-based skills require a few important skills like typing, using a computer, or multi-lingual ability to perform transcription, data processing, or clerical jobs. Highly skilled requires advanced skills to work on a specific project like software engineering or designing a brand.

There are different types of staff augmentation services available like traditional staffing, master vendor, and specialized staffing & consulting. Besides, it includes Gig platforms facilitating access to independent contractors, and companies can avail themselves as per their project requirements. Direct independent and on-demand staff augmentation further serves companies’ varied demands, which is why staff augmentation is being popular with the business of all sizes.

It is very important to figure out your staff requirements before saying yes to a staff augmentation model. Verifying your staffing vendor’s experience and expertise in the industry will help you find a partner capable of serving your needs. Go for the one with a global market presence to access the best talents. Understand the communication protocols and their commitment to security to collaborate with the right staffing agency.

Staff augmentation is often misunderstood, and people still have an unclear perception of it. Companies often mix it with technical support, which it is not. It is helpful in cost-saving, but that is not considered seriously due to lack of understanding. Few individuals think that staff augmentation does not come with long-term benefits, while others find it hard to manage staff augmentation teams because it is a new concept.

Staff augmentation comes with great benefits, including expertise, flexibility, and seamless team integration. With such a model, you get industry specialists to work on a project with great flexibility and smooth integration to the team. However, training, dependency, and management overhead are a few disadvantages that it brings along. The augmented staff needs initial training and depends on internal process, and management has to deal with his onboarding responsibilities.