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IT staff augmentation for the surge you’re in.
TekRecruiter provides IT staff augmentation services focused solely on technology and engineering roles at tech and SaaS companies. When a launch or a big initiative outgrows your team, we add expert engineers who are bought into the work and ship under your leadership, starting in as little as three days. Beyond skills and experience, we look for HEARTThe HEART standardHHigh agencyEExecutionAAccountabilityRResourcefulnessTTransparencyWhat we look for, beyond skills →.
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What is staff augmentation?
Staff augmentation is a hiring model where a staffing firm adds contract specialists to your team for a project or a period. They work under your management, in your tools and processes, while the firm employs and pays them. You gain skills and capacity fast, without adding permanent headcount, and you keep full control of the work, the code and the roadmap.
- Staff augmentation
- You add people and direct the work. The staffing firm employs and pays them.
- Managed services
- A vendor takes over a function or project and owns delivery to a service level.
- Bill rate
- The hourly rate you pay per contractor. It covers their pay, employer costs, insurance and the firm’s fee.
What to know before you augment your team.
Whether or not you work with us, these are the questions worth settling before you bring in contractors.
When does staff augmentation make sense?
When the work has outgrown the team: a product launch, a migration, a big initiative with a date, or a skill you need now but not forever. It is the fastest way to add capacity without waiting on permanent headcount, and it works best when someone on your team can direct the work.
Staff augmentation or managed services?
Choose staff augmentation when you want to keep control: you add individual experts and they work under your leadership. Choose managed services when you want a vendor to own an entire function or project and deliver it to a service level. Many teams use staff augmentation precisely because they don’t want to hand over their code or their roadmap.
What does staff augmentation cost?
You pay an hourly bill rate per contractor, which covers their pay, employer costs, insurance and the firm’s fee. In TekRecruiter’s 2026 contract placements, software engineers billed $105 an hour in South Florida, $112 in Boston and $115 in New York, and DevOps, SRE and platform engineers about 5% more. Senior nearshore engineers cost about $39–$57 an hour all in.
What should you look for in a contractor?
A contractor is not a permanent hire, so screen differently. Look for expert, recent experience in exactly what you need; a record of finishing contracts of similar length, not a string of early exits; commitment to your work alone, with no second job on the side; and someone who can add value in the first week, not in a year.
W-2 or 1099?
Contractors can be engaged as W-2 employees of the staffing firm or as independent 1099 contractors. The right setup depends on the engagement and on who directs the work, and misclassification carries real tax and legal risk. A good firm sets it up for compliance, explains it transparently and carries the insurance.
How long should an engagement run?
As long as the work needs. Our engagements usually run about seven to twelve months, but there is no minimum term and no notice period. Plan the end as carefully as the start: document the work and hand it over, or convert the contractors who have become part of the team.
Why companies switch staff augmentation partners.
Most staff augmentation calls start with good news: a launch or an initiative that outgrew the team. The rest come from companies already using contractors through another agency. These are the reasons they switch.
- 01
Contractors who check out.
Low engagement from people who treat the project as a placeholder.
- 02
Two jobs at once.
Contractors who seem to be working somewhere else at the same time.
- 03
The wrong experience.
Good résumés, but nothing that fits your stack or your environment.
- 04
Premium rates, average work.
Paying top-of-market rates for people who aren’t delivering.
- Contract placements in 2026
- 39
- From approval to first day
- 3 days
- US contract software engineer bill rate per hour
- $105–$115
Contractors bought into the work, not just the rate.
A permanent hire is about skills, experience and growth. A contractor is about expert capability, right now. So we screen for specialists who have finished contracts of similar length, are committed to your project and nobody else’s, and can add value in the first week. Every consultant we present meets our HEART standard.
- Expert at the exact need: deep, recent experience in your stack and your problem, not general capability.
- Contracts they finished: a track record of completing engagements as long as yours.
- Full focus: committed to your contract alone; we screen out people juggling multiple jobs.
- Value now: comfortable as contractors, and ready to ramp in days and ship in weeks.
| A typical staffing vendor | TekRecruiter |
|---|---|
| Sends whoever is on the bench | Specialists matched to your stack and environment |
| Contractors juggling other jobs | Full focus on your contract |
| Minimum terms and notice periods | No minimum term, no notice period |
| Conversion fees and restrictions | Convert any contractor when you both want it |
| US-only or offshore | US-based or nearshore, on your hours |
The HEART standard
What we look for beyond skills and experience, in every candidate we present.
- High agencyPeople who see what needs to be done and act without waiting to be told.
- ExecutionPeople who turn ideas into results.
- AccountabilityPeople who own the outcome, not just their piece of the work.
- ResourcefulnessPeople who figure things out when the answer isn’t obvious.
- TransparencyPeople who communicate clearly, honestly, and early.
From surge to shipped.
We scope the need
The project, the stack, how many people, for how long, and the environment they’ll work in.
You interview and choose
We present specialists who fit. You interview and approve each consultant before the contract starts.
They start, and you stay in control
Consultants start in as little as three days, under your leadership. We pay them, handle the HR side and check in with you for feedback. Add, release or convert people as the work changes.
Roles we staff on contract.
Contract specialists across technology and engineering, from a single expert to a program of thirty.
Executive searchLeadership
Customer stories.
Their ability to quickly supply highly skilled software and DevOps engineers who blend in well with our existing teams continues to amaze me. They are highly technical at the account management level and transparently propose different solutions, whether staff augmentation or nearshore outsourcing.
Qualio hired two senior DevOps engineers for its cloud engineering team from the candidates TekRecruiter presented.
The hiring team needed someone who could build a Java automation framework from scratch, and we had worked the search for six straight months with at least 12 or 13 vendors. TekRecruiter sent one candidate, and he got the job.
After eMed’s senior IAM role had been open for more than three months, TekRecruiter found the right candidate in less than a week.
TekRecruiter filled more than 12 software engineering roles at eMed.
In less than three days, TekRecruiter found Carewell the perfect senior software engineer with strong TypeScript and Playwright skills.
SM2 Dev hired a senior software engineer after TekRecruiter shared three to four candidates within a week, as committed.
The few times I’ve hired over the last five years, I’ve always been vendor neutral, and TekRecruiter has been the staffing partner that filled every one of those open engineering roles.
When staff augmentation is the right call.
- A surge your team can’t absorb, like a launch, a migration or an initiative with a date.
- Specialist skills you need now, for months, not forever.
- Teams that want to keep control of the work, the code and the roadmap.
- Handing off a whole project. That’s managed services. Our consultants work under your leadership; we’re not a dev shop.
- No one to direct the work. Augmented engineers need a lead on your side.
- A permanent role you know you need. Direct hire or contract-to-hire fits better.
Staff augmentation vs. managed services vs. outsourcing.
| Staff augmentationYou are here | Managed services | Project outsourcing | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who directs the work | You | The vendor, to a service level | The vendor, to a scope |
| What you pay for | People, by the hour | A function run for you, usually monthly | A deliverable, fixed price or by milestone |
| Code and roadmap | Yours, the whole time | Shared with the vendor | The vendor’s until handoff |
| Changing course | Add or release people anytime | Through the contract | Through change orders |
| Best for | Surges, skill gaps and backfills | A function you don’t want to staff | A well-defined project with a clear end |
Staff augmentationYou are here
- Who directs the work
- You
- What you pay for
- People, by the hour
- Code and roadmap
- Yours, the whole time
- Changing course
- Add or release people anytime
- Best for
- Surges, skill gaps and backfills
Managed services
- Who directs the work
- The vendor, to a service level
- What you pay for
- A function run for you, usually monthly
- Code and roadmap
- Shared with the vendor
- Changing course
- Through the contract
- Best for
- A function you don’t want to staff
Project outsourcing
- Who directs the work
- The vendor, to a scope
- What you pay for
- A deliverable, fixed price or by milestone
- Code and roadmap
- The vendor’s until handoff
- Changing course
- Through change orders
- Best for
- A well-defined project with a clear end
Staff augmentation questions, answered.
What is the difference between staff augmentation and managed services?
With staff augmentation you add individual specialists and keep control of the work, the code and the outcome. With managed services a vendor takes over a function or project and owns delivery to a service level. TekRecruiter does staff augmentation: our consultants work under your leadership.
How much does IT staff augmentation cost?
You pay an hourly bill rate per consultant, which covers their pay, employer costs, insurance and our fee. In our 2026 contract placements, software engineers billed $105 an hour in South Florida, $112 in Boston and $115 in New York; DevOps, SRE and platform engineers about 5% more. See the 2026 Salary & Rate Guide.
Do you charge anything before a consultant starts?
No. There are no upfront costs, and no maintenance fees, monthly fees or retainers. Our services are contingent on you hiring someone and that person starting. Pricing is not one-size-fits-all: we work with you on a rate and approach that fit your roles and situation and that we can deliver, then you pay for the work once the consultant begins.
Is there a minimum contract length or notice period?
No. There is no minimum term and no notice period. Our engagements usually run about seven to twelve months.
What if a contractor doesn’t work out?
We quickly find a replacement. It happens rarely, because we screen for expert fit and for full commitment to your contract.
Are your contractors W-2 or 1099?
Both. We set each engagement up for compliance, in the way that fits how the work will run, and explain it transparently. In every case, we are fully insured.
Can we hire a contractor permanently?
Yes. There are no conversion restrictions on any of our contractors. If you and the contractor both want to make it permanent, we work out a solution. If you expect to hire from the start, contract-to-hire sets that path upfront.
Who manages the contractors?
You do. It is full staff augmentation: the contractors work under your leadership, day to day. We employ and pay them, handle the HR side, and check in with you for feedback, never getting in the way of your team.
How fast can contractors start?
In as little as three days after you approve them. For one fintech rebuild, we reached 1,500 developers, screened 700 in three days and hired 30 MERN engineers in under two weeks.
Can we augment our team with nearshore engineers?
Yes. Senior engineers in Latin America cost about $39–$57 an hour all in through TekRecruiter, about half the rate of a US contract engineer. They have worked for US companies, speak English with confidence and work your hours. See Nearshore.
What is the HEART standard?
HEART is the standard we screen every candidate against, beyond skills: high agency, execution, accountability, resourcefulness and transparency. It describes people who take ownership, turn ideas into results and move the business forward. See the standard.
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