Why Do Some Offshore Firms Trick You with Developers’ Seniority?
Have you ever been stuck in a situation where you have cooperated with an offshore staffing firm, they have hired top senior developers, but the result has been… subpar at least? Well, we are not happy to say this, but the senior developers might have been just middles or even just strong juniors.
We have nothing against middles or juniors – they can be a great addition to the team. But we believe there are a lot of cases when you might need senior developers, and if it is your request, it should be fulfilled in its entirety. Unfortunately, some offshoring agencies have another opinion on the matter. They can sell you developers of lower seniority disguised as seniors, and this is not the outcome you are expecting to get.
So, why is this manipulation happening, and how can you protect yourself from getting tricked? Let us explain.
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The Connection Between Developer’s Seniority and Staffing Firm Profits
To understand the root of the problem, we need to contemplate the standard staffing firm’s revenue and pricing models. Typically, the price you see as a client encompasses the developer’s compensation, coverage for developers’ benefits (PTO, insurance, training, etc.), and a fee that covers the staffing firm’s overheads and provides profit. While the costs for benefits and overheads generally remain static regardless of the developer’s level, the dynamic aspects of this model are the developer’s compensation and the firm’s profits.
Here’s where the nuances of business ethics and profit strategies come into play. Some staffing firms, driven by the pursuit of higher profit margins, may say they provide their client with a senior developer when in reality, they place a mid-level or junior developer on the project. They then charge the client at the rate for a senior specialist but compensate the developer at the lower mid-level or junior rate. This way, the firm significantly increases the margin, which directly enhances the firm’s profit.
This dubious practice can work on short-term projects where a quality loss might be attributed to other factors or even go unnoticed. In the long run, it becomes more and more difficult to cover up the fact that so-called “senior” developers perform at a lower level than they should. Eventually, it leads to mistakes, technical debt, delays, a rise in project costs, or even project failure. The tech staffing firm loses credibility in the eyes of clients, its customer base shrinks, and its reputation gets damaged. However, such downsides don’t put a stop to this practice – the firm could have still made some substantial profits, and for some people, it is a sufficient justification for scheming.
There is another side – a side of developer. There is no satisfaction in pretending someone who you aren’t and suffering from underperformance for unfairly exceeded expectations. Therefore, the developers who got stuck in the middle of the scheme may quickly burn out and quit in the middle of the project, leaving you with a vacancy you need to fill once more.
How to Avoid Being Tricked?
We have good news too: the world is not so gruesome, and you do not need to put a cross on tech staffing altogether. Tech staffing gives you a lot of benefits, like cost optimization, access to a worldwide talent pool, simpler hiring process. The key is to find a reliable tech staffing agency that won’t try to make money on scheming.
When choosing a partner for this endeavor, you need to seek out a firm that prioritizes transparency and open communication. A reliable staffing agency will explain to you how their pricing is structured, openly breaking down the components that go into developer compensation and their own fees.
Equally important is the firm’s honesty about the seniority of the developers they provide. A trustworthy firm allows you to be actively involved in the hiring and onboarding processes. This inclusion allows you to assess the developers’ true capabilities and proficiency yourself. Being part of this process means you can conduct interviews or facilitate testing, directly verifying that the developers meet the qualifications needed for your projects and correspond to the seniority level being billed.
Ultimately, selecting a staffing firm that embraces these practices and values ethicality can protect your investments and ensure fosters mutual respect and accountability.
TurnKey Staffing Transparency
Yes, it is possible to find a partner who follows the standard we have described – at least we do it that way. Staying transparent and showing things as they are is the promise we give our clients.
So how do we do that?
We invented a “cost plus” model: instead of giving a fixed price for a given role, we tell you the exact compensation of your developer and the separate, capped fees for our service that don’t rise with the compensation of developers. This way, you can ensure that the senior we hire is really a senior and that we are true to our word.
There is another benefit to this approach: when you know how much your developers make, you can understand if they are satisfied with their position and compensation level. Therefore, you can adjust it and dictate promotions, raises, and equity grants, ensuring that your developers are content to work with you longer. That’s how you get a longer tenure within your company and low churn. Even more, we can also give you a hand through our retention program – it reduces churn by 50% and guarantees that the developers stay with you for at least 3 years.
Hire developers with TurnKey and always know how much your developers make
Summing Up
You can always expect TurnKey to stay transparent with you. We don’t hide developers’ salaries, we do only custom hiring so we will find a 100% match for your request within 30 days, and we help to keep your team happy so they will work for your project for years. That’s why we have a 96% customer satisfaction rating. Feel free to check our Clutch – our previous and current clients share their thoughts on cooperation with us in their reviews.
FAQ
Offshore tech staffing involves hiring technology professionals from countries other than where the company is based, typically to capitalize on cost efficiencies and access a broader talent pool. This model is facilitated by staffing firms that connect skilled developers from these lower-cost regions with companies needing specific tech expertise. It allows organizations to expand their capabilities and manage projects more cost-effectively, without the need to expand their local workforce permanently.
To ensure a staffing company is honest about the seniority of its developers, you should request detailed profiles and resumes of the developers proposed for your projects. Engage directly in the interview process, including technical assessments or trials, to evaluate the developers' skills firsthand. Additionally, ask for references or case studies of past projects the developers have worked on. Establishing clear communication and setting expectations upfront with the staffing firm about transparency and verification processes will also help in verifying the accuracy of the information provided about developer seniority.
TurnKey's retention program operates through a methodical, data-driven approach to keep your development team stable and satisfied. Each month, our talent retention specialists evaluate the developers we've staffed for you, focusing on various critical retention factors. Based on this evaluation, we apply our proprietary algorithm to calculate a Talent Retention Index Score for each developer. This score identifies their potential risk of leaving, categorizing developers into different risk levels.
Once we have established the risk levels, we tailor our retention strategies accordingly. For developers who are content and at low risk, we continue to support their satisfaction. For those at medium to high risk of churn, we implement targeted retention programs aimed at increasing their job satisfaction and engagement, thereby enhancing their retention scores.
Throughout this process, we keep you, the client, in the loop with regular updates. This communication includes detailed insights into the retention risks within your team and the specific actions we are taking to mitigate these risks. This transparency ensures that you are always informed and can feel secure about the stability of your outsourced development team.
TurnKey Staffing provides information for general guidance only and does not offer legal, tax, or accounting advice. We encourage you to consult with professional advisors before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business or legal rights.
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