In-house Recruitment vs. Outstaffing Agency

Table of Contents

1. Outstaffing vs. in-house — what’s the difference?
   1. Recruitment
   2. Offer and onboarding
   3. Contract management and payroll
   4. Retention
   5. Cost
   6. Skill set
   7. Team integration
   8. Dedication
2. Why does outstaffing suit anyone?

When it comes to scaling tech teams, there are several paths a business can take: it can rely on its in-house HR department, turn to third-party headhunters, or use the services of a professional outstaffing company.

While the task and responsibilities of headhunters and in-house HR departments are clear — they are quite similar, the difference between in-house recruitment and outstaffing agencies might be more confusing.

Today, let's dive into the difference between in-house recruitment and outstaffing agencies and choose just the right one for your business and team.

Outstaffing vs. in-house — what’s the difference?

Recruitment

In-house HR department	Outstaffing partner
Covers all hiring needs of one single company (their employer)	Can work with several different companies simultaneously
Might not know about a project’s specificities and long-term plans and needs	Has to understand a project’s long-term goals and needs
Most often, hires people for all roles in the company	Hires tech-specialists and people related to the tech industry
Consists of professionals in the HR field	Consists of professionals in both the HR and the tech fields

Offer and onboarding

In-house HR department	Outstaffing partner
Both handled by the client business	Both are handled by the outstaffing company and its professionals.

Contract management and payroll

In-house HR department	Outstaffing partner
The team is done with the new hire as soon as the offer is accepted. The payroll is fully a company’s responsibility, which requires additional resources and teams	Handles contract management, tax and payroll with ease

Retention

In-house HR department	Outstaffing partner
Team motivation and retention questions usually fall onto the desk of a Tech Lead, who is routinely overloaded with code reviews and other product development management tasks	Can provide its clients with industry expertise on best practices to keep their tech teams motivated and engaged, as well as take on the organizational part of the workload

Cost

In-house HR department	Outstaffing partner
Gets regular salary or compensation from their employer	Works for a fixed monthly fee

Skill set

The skill set of both is very alike. They have to:

• Have excellent communication skills
• Know how to read people and understand their nature from the first minutes of interaction
• Understand whether the person would be the right fit for the team
• Be patient

In addition to that, the outstaffing professionals have to:

• Understand the recent developments in the tech market
• Know what the project requires now and will require in the near future
• Have a background in tech and IT

Team integration

In-house HR department	Outstaffing partner
Is a direct part of your team and organization as a whole	While they themselves are not a part of your team, they are bringing new teammates into it

Dedication

Even despite not being a part of your in-house team, an outstaffing agency will be as dedicated to you as an in-house department. They will look for exactly the professionals and specialists a business needs to reach its goals and fulfill its plans.

Why does outstaffing suit anyone?

Different businesses understand hiring differently.

• Small businesses. HR questions are yet not a company-wide concern and are typically covered by a single person or department. At this stage, recruiting is most vital and urgent, while other Tech HR Ops might not be there yet. Here, an outstaffing company, like Outstaff Your Team, can save time with streamlined tech recruiting and bring a much-needed expertise in the HR Operations and Employer of Record processes.
• Medium businesses have a more complex hiring structure. The HR department can split into Recruiting and HR Operations, even though in the long run, this solution is less cost-efficient than turning to an outstaffing team. A professional outstaffing team can help medium businesses solve the question of covering Recruiting, HR Ops, and Employer of Record that a business hasn't allocated people or resources for.
• Big businesses have a complex structure and internal departments that cover Recruiting and HR separately. At this stage, companies usually get puzzled by how fast they can reach their growth goals. What an outstaffing company can do is bring them diversification and help them scale and focus on what they do best.

Looking for an outstaffing team to take care of your tech hiring needs? Contact us at [email protected]!