IT Staff Augmentation vs Permanent Hiring for UAE Digital Transformation Projects

According to the latest data, tech recruitment will grow as companies expand their digital capabilities. The recruitment of specialists in cybersecurity, machine learning, and cloud computing consumes time. If you have a scheduled project launch, you cannot afford to spend time. So, should you apply to IT staff augmentation or hiring?

The Realities of Tech Hiring in the UAE

To develop a digital business, you need to find an equilibrium between continuous operations and fast project development. Right now, the local market for IT staffing companies in Dubai is extremely competitive. The mid-level developers of software, cloud architects, and data scientists receive several job offers after they join the labor market.

It means that the period of time needed for hiring will increase for businesses. People’s salary requirements will become higher, as well as their retention. In case when you plan to migrate a legacy system in 6 months, spending 3 months searching for a skilled cloud developer does not suit your needs.

In order to maintain the balance mentioned above, it is essential to know some hiring models.

IT Staff Augmentation: Speed, Scale, and Specialised Skills

It is an IT staff augmentation strategy that allows you to engage tech experts through a contract to expand your employee pool. With this solution, you can avoid lengthy recruitment processes, obtaining visas, and adding employees to your payroll.

Here are some of the ways in which IT staff augmentation could help UAE companies deal with their digital transformation projects:

• Quick engagement of specialists: Unlike recruiting new employees, you can bring in specialised developers or analysts within a couple of days.
• Efficient spending: You pay for the talent until the implementation is done. After that, you can reduce the number of people involved without worrying about severances.
• specialised skills: You might need a person with a very specific skillset for a short period. This solution allows you to hire such talent.

What makes the top IT staffing companies in Dubai different from other recruitment agencies in Dubai is that they give you more than a candidate's CV. They give you talent ready to work within your company's workflow under your management.

Permanent Hiring: Building Core Competency and Culture

Although augmentation is the most efficient method for the increase of speed and productivity in particular projects, the core of any successful IT department is permanent hiring. By hiring staff, you attract people that will grow with your company, learn all ins and outs, and take full responsibility for it.

Permanent hiring could be considered when:

• There is a permanent position needed. For instance, CISO, heads of IT support, and key product managers are roles without which your company will not work at all. You need professionals to join your business and work on its development.
• You need an employee with institutional knowledge about your proprietary software and strategic goals.
• Leadership qualities and team building skills: Creation of internal corporate culture, leading and mentoring of junior specialists, implementation of technical ideas according to boardroom strategy is possible only with permanent employees.

But recruitment of permanent staff is surely costly, in terms of both cost of recruitment, training, and salary expenses. Yet, the recruiting process via professional recruiting agency in Dubai might become quite easy.

IT Staff Augmentation vs. Permanent Hiring: Head-to-Head Comparison

In order to pick up the better option for your future digital transformation projects, it is necessary to compare both approaches.

How to Choose the Right Strategy for Your Next Project

The truth is that any successful strategy of digital transformation of companies operating in the UAE cannot be based on a single model. A blended approach is the best way forward.

Form your key team of IT leaders and supporting resources by making permanent hires. These are the guys who will run the ship. Then, augment your IT team using the IT staff augmentation model in order to get the required specialists to implement certain transformational initiatives such as migration to a new cloud, creation of a customer-facing app, or implementation of an AI-powered analytics platform.

Partner with TASC for Your IT Talent Needs

Transformation digital requires more than just taking time on the usual recruitment processes. Regardless of whether you have to scale up a project team quickly or hire that ideal candidate to help your company through its tech strategy, having the right partner is key.

As a recognized recruitment and outsourcing provider in the region, TASC offers what you need to get a competitive advantage: flexibility, experience, and access to the market to ensure that you can get the necessary tech specialists.

Interested in improving your tech workforce? Get in touch with TASC Outsourcing now and discuss your digital transformation recruitment strategy.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is it costlier to augment the IT staff compared to permanently hiring?

While initially the cost per hour or per month of augmented staff may seem higher compared to the salary of a permanent employee, considering the savings in terms of visa fees, health insurance, end-of-service benefits, as well as reduced time to hire, IT augmentation proves to be significantly cheaper.

2. Can augmented IT staff start working in our Dubai office right away?

Certainly. Depending on your deal, IT augmented staff could be on-site in your office, work remotely or on a hybrid model, working right alongside your employees and following your own management.

3. What is the time frame to recruit talent via IT staff augmentation?

IT staff augmentation companies in Dubai have already prepared pools of tested specialists ready to work. Given the availability of skills required by you, the time needed to hire them varies from one to two weeks.

4. What do you do when the augmented staff member does not fit?

Flexibility is one of the key advantages of staff augmentation. The fact is that if the professional does not satisfy your expectations regarding the project, the recruiting partner will be able to quickly replace him/her with another one, avoiding delays of your project schedule.

5. Does the recruitment agency deal with visa issues when it comes to permanent hiring?

Unlike conventional recruiting agencies that limit themselves with recruiting only, full-fledged HR and outsourcing providers take care of all the onboarding issues including visa procedures, payroll, and local legislation compliance.