When a business is faced with a big programming project or an increased need for software development, it can feel as though the only question is if this additional work can be spread across their team, or if they need to justify the cost of adding another salary to their workforce.
Now that you know your workload exceeds that of your current staff or requires a skillset that your current team does not specialize in, you’re overwhelmed that you will now have to spend weeks justifying a business need to your company in order to approve an addition to headcount. It does not feel fair to spread your existing staff thin, but the pushback from above you makes you feel that you’re never going to see a green light.
How do I make this work? Contracting!
Contracting a developer is an incredible financial choice when leveraged correctly. Being proactive in contracting this additional work is also huge for the morale of the existing team. By showing that you put focus and effort into getting them support, you have increased their buy-in with your leadership. By showing the business that you are leveraging other options to keep costs lower, you are also increasing your buy-in from the company. It’s a true win-win.
Let’s say that a need has been identified for someone who has stronger SQL knowledge for some upcoming projects surrounding database systems. I have a project that is estimated to take about half a year if someone is dedicated to it part time. With no approval for an additional software developer in sight, I set my eyes on contracting this project out.
By bringing in an outside programmer, I’ll have the ability to pay only for the hours that are being utilized. On top of that, the money – and TIME – that it saves the company is astounding.
Cost Breakdown:
Cost to hire an employee (via Society for HR Management): $4,129
Pay for Mid-Career SQL Developer: $81,687
Employer Health Insurance Cost: $16,253 (family coverage)
Taxes (FICA): $6,249.05
Total: $108,318
And that’s a very low-ball estimate, excluding some taxes as well as the time to onboard and train a new employee that you intend on keeping, etc.
With contracting, you could bring a skilled professional in for half a year at three full days per week and end up with a final cost of ~$75,000 – and that is if the programmer uses every last one of those estimated 24 hours a week over 26 weeks.
There is also a time saving element that comes with employee management; although you will want to be hands-on with project explanation and work alongside your support staff, if any difficult conversations arise, you are able to relay those back and continue focus on your existing employees. You’ve saved time, HR has saved time, and you’ve saved the company a lot of money – sounds like a lot to write down and bring to your next employee review.
If you have an upcoming project and would like to discuss the money saving opportunities that come from contracting one of our developers, please click here.