Quick Summary: Staff Augmentation basically means hiring a third party employee or team to look after your work. You can hire them on an hourly basis or as per your needs. The staff augmentation provides an opportunity to choose an expert in your industry at minimal wages. By hiring offshore, you can cut down the operating costs and save the monthly salaries of employees. The process is even more simple, if you consider nearshore staff augmentation. 

What is nearshore staff augmentation? 

Nearshore staff augmentation allows hiring professionals from countries that are geographically close to yours. Unlike searching for talents offshore, this one lets you hire people within your time zone and cultural alignments. For example, if your industry operates in the United States, you may consider hiring staff from American companies or India. The augmented staff work like a part of your own company as they offer flexible working hours and specific skill sets to handle large projects and meet deadlines.  

5 key benefits of nearshore staff augmentation 

1. Manage staff shortages– the demands of a large project or too many deadlines can sometimes create a shortage of your available workforce. Joining hands with a nearshore IT team creates a reliable solution, to meet workforce requirements and fill in the skill gap without replacing your in-house team. 
2. Easy access to talents- Nearshore staff augmentation is a perfect choice if you want to hire permanent candidates. You can hire pre-screened, experienced and highly trained developers to start working on your projects. All this is possible without a series of hectic interviews, background checks etc. 
3. Cost-effectiveness- Hiring nearshore professionals is a cost-efficient way to grow your business. Since these people are mostly operating in your time zone, there is a flexibility in timings and working hours. Thus saving you some cost while also providing a reliable solution.
4. No language barriers- Linguistic barriers often disrupt smooth communication between the company and staff. For a successful project execution, a seamless collaboration is essential, and nearshore staff is aware of your native language and cultural preferences. It is relatively easier for them to communicate with your existing team and deeply understand the requirements of the given project. 
5. Customized team extension- While in-house hiring is only suitable for long term requirements, nearshore augmentation allows you to scale your team as and when needed. Whether your project demands a short term employee, or a long term, you can hire developers at your convenience. Unlike traditional hiring methodologies, this model saves a lot of time and effort. As the professionals are hired on a contract basis, you only have to pay for the signed duration or discontinue services when you no longer need them. 

Examples of companies that opted nearshore staff augmentation 

1. Uber- When Uber needed to develop and expand its mobile app to accommodate its growing user base, it partnered with a nearshore software development company in Latin America to join its in-house team. The company provided Uber with a set of skilled developers having extensive experience in mobile app development. This set of professionals along with Uber’s in-house team launched and successfully developed its mobile app for global expansion within the allotted time and budget. 
2. Netflix- Netflix needed to develop a decent recommendation algorithm in its website to provide its users with personalized content suggestions. So it partnered with a nearshore company located in the eastern part of Europe to hire its in-house team of skilled professionals and machine learning engineers. 
3. Airbnb– With the help of a nearshore company in Latin America, Airbnb developed a secure and flexible payment platform to support its global operations. It onboarded software engineers with a proven experience in payment processing. Airbnb needed to complete this task real fast, so that it can penetrate its operations into new countries and continue the growth. 

Why is India a Preferred Nearshore Partner for the US? 

1. India has numerous universities and colleges to produce a large number of skilled IT professionals who know the latest technologies and are well-equipped to survive in today’s competitive world. 
2. One of the most significant and valid reasons for US companies to consider India for nearshore staff augmentation is its cost advantage. Hiring an IT professional from India is affordable as compared to hiring them locally or from other countries. Moreover, hiring from India would mean not compromising on quality as well. 
3. English has been used widely around India so it eliminates the language barrier between India and the USA, also facilitating smooth communication between IT professionals and their US counterparts. 
4. Many Indian outsourcing companies offer to work according to the timezones of faraway countries, which is an attractive option for US clients to hire professionals from India. 

Conclusion

Hiring nearshore software development companies is a safe and cost-effective approach for US businesses to grow and thrive in the competitive market. By choosing nearby countries like India, any business can benefit from reasonable costs offered and highly talented professionals without sacrificing on communication, and cultural compatibility. 
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