Staff Augmentation Method Of Adjusting Staff Vs Contractors

Staff augmentation adds temporary workers to your team through a staffing firm, and your managers direct their day-to-day work alongside your employees. An independent contractor is self-employed, controls how the work is done and is paid per project or invoice. The key differences are control, how the worker is classified and paid, and who handles recruiting and administration. Staff augmentation suits roles that need close management, while contractors suit defined deliverables. IS&T provides IT staff augmentation for Houston businesses.

Need extra IT hands for a project? Ask IS&T about staff augmentation.

For modern businesses there are countless ways to adjust your staff for specific projects that require more manpower or even for the general scaling up of your business. The various staffing techniques available are especially varied when it comes to the IT industry. From completely outsourcing to a third party to hiring temporary employees in-house, it’s never been easier to expand or supplement your team.

But which staffing method is best? The truth is it will depend largely on your business, the specific needs you have, and what you’re looking to achieve. Each staffing technique has its own benefits and drawbacks. Let’s start by discussing two of the most popular options when it comes to altering your staff: staff augmentation and using independent contractors. We’ll go over their similarities and their differences to help you decide which is right for your business.

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What is Staff Augmentation?

Staff augmentation adds skills to your team without adding permanent headcount.

For starters, let’s dive into what staff augmentation is. Staff augmentation is a staffing strategy used by businesses to fill temporary gaps in the skillset or bandwidth of their existing staff. For example, if your business gets a big project from a client but your staff cannot handle the workload or are unable to perform the tasks required for the project for whatever reason, staff augmentation would be a way to get the staff members you need on a temporary basis to ensure the project is completed right and on time. Staff augmentation can be used for all levels of employment from entry-level to even C-level positions.

Although staff augmentation sounds like other types of staffing strategies such as outsourcing, hiring a consultant, or working with independent contractors, it is its own type of staffing solution that has unique benefits and features that help set it apart.

Qualities That Distinguish Staff Augmentation:

Workers hired for roles through staff augmentation are employees on the business’s official payroll. They are not consultants or contractors.
Businesses have control over who is hired for the roles in staff augmentation. This is different than outsourcing, for example, where the business doesn’t have control over the specific individuals that work for them.
Workers hired through staff augmentation are found by a staffing firm but managed directly by the business’s internal management team rather than by a third party (as with outsourcing) or by the worker themselves (as with independent contractors).

Staff Augmentation vs. Independent Contractor

The real difference is control: who directs the work and how it gets done.

So how does staff augmentation differ from hiring an independent contractor? If you’re hiring an independent contractor to help with a big project, is that not the same as staff augmentation? The answer is no.

Staff augmentation focuses on utilizing temporary workers to supplement a business’s capabilities similarly to using an independent contractor, however staff augmentation requires that those additional staff members be hired temporarily as employees on the payroll. Independent contractors are not employees. They work for themselves and pay self-employment tax. In addition, independent contractors are not usually used for management or executive roles, so staff augmentation is usually used for situations that would require temporary staff for those types of roles.

Staff augmentation vs. independent contractor

Factor	Staff augmentation	Independent contractor
Who directs the work	Your managers, day to day	The contractor decides how the work is done
How they are engaged	Through a staffing firm	Directly, under a contract for a project or deliverable
Recruiting and screening	Handled by the staffing firm	Handled by you
Fit with your team	Works inside your team and processes	Works independently
Taxes	Withheld through payroll	The contractor pays self-employment tax
Best for	Ongoing work that needs close management	Defined projects with clear deliverables

Benefits of Using Staff Augmentation Over Independent Contractors

When using staff augmentation, there is a larger amount of control that a business will get over the workers that are hired, because those staff members are employees in an official capacity. In addition, they have a say over which staff members are hired for each position, even when using a staffing firm to facilitate the search. Staff augmentation can also be more cost-efficient than working with independent contractors. This is because independent contractors set their own rates and employees hired through staff augmentation are considered employees, so their pay rate is determined by the business itself. This can be beneficial in terms of budgeting.

If you’re unsure what the right staffing solution is for your business, meeting with a reputable staffing firm can be a helpful first step. They can walk you through the process of staff augmentation and give you insight on whether it’s the right fit for your needs or not.

Staff Augmentation in Houston

You will need the help of staffing experts that are familiar with Houston and have been helping businesses like yours make much-needed changes and additions so that they can achieve their business goals. With that kind of experience at their disposal, quality staffing professionals are more than equipped to handle any of your business’s staffing needs.

Learn more about IS&T’s IT staff augmentation, temporary and contract staffing and IT staffing services, or read our guides to types of staffing models and the direct hire process. For how workers are classified, see the IRS guide Independent contractor (self-employed) or employee?

Tell IS&T about the roles and timeline you need to fill, and we will recommend the right staffing approach.

Staff Augmentation VS Independent Contractor

What is Staff Augmentation?

Qualities That Distinguish Staff Augmentation:

Staff Augmentation vs. Independent Contractor

Benefits of Using Staff Augmentation Over Independent Contractors

Staff Augmentation in Houston

Frequently Asked Questions

When should I use staff augmentation instead of an independent contractor?

Who manages workers placed through staff augmentation?

Is staff augmentation cheaper than hiring an independent contractor?