Costs are one of the main issues when you set on expanding your team. It may easily grow into one of the biggest expenses for the company – it can go up to 70% of your total cost structure. With this in mind, it is needless to say what impact the decision about budget distribution can have on profitability.
When you decide on hiring software engineers for your project, there are generally two options. One is to rely solely on an internal team, and the other is to hire remote developers.
In one of our previous posts, we’ve covered the average software engineer’s salary. In this post, we would like to focus on the differences between hiring a remote team versus building an internal team.
There are lots of resources where you can do research about the median salary for software engineer jobs. However, the real cost of hiring an in-house employee comes with additional costs as well.
Recruiting
The task of finding the right software engineer who is a fit both tech-wise and as a team member can be expensive. Take into consideration everything from advertising the position and possibly paying an external recruiter. Then, you may have to pay for background checks and assessment tests as well. Not to mention the time cost of everyone who takes part in the hiring process. If you have a lot of different positions to fill in, the recruitment management software tool is something to add to the receipt too.
On the other hand, for hiring outsourced developers, you just forward a job ad or contact a software company directly. No headhunting, and no pre-screening interviews. You simply choose when to want to involve in the process. According to our experience, it usually happens only when we finalize the initial filtering.
Workplace integration
Adding up one more working station the company management may often overlook as a cost. Practically, it is not obvious up to the point when the new employee officially signs the contract.
In many cases, the COVID-19 has increased this type of cost. Some of them due to uncertainty of the time frame of coming back to the office, while others due to obligatory distancing, work alternating shifts, and so on.
According to some estimates, by hiring remote software development professionals, a company saves up to 60% in operational costs which can be more cost-effective than adding the new members of an in-house system.
Benefits
With the salary and work equipment and space checked, one of the extra costs is also the inevitable benefits and perks. Experienced software developers expect comprehensive packages in addition to the salary as well. If you don’t offer or plan to offer these benefit packages, there is a chance that you will struggle to hire and (more importantly) retain talents.
Some of the standard expected benefits include, but are not limited to:
- Fully remote work.
- Health insurance.
- Extra paid time off.
- Life insurance.
- Tuition reimbursement.
- Skills development.
- Free coffee/snacks in the break room.
- Gym memberships, transportation, etc.
- Flexible working hours.
