Nearshoring can be a powerful strategic option for IT firms, giving you access to qualified talent from Latin America that enables you to better meet the needs of your clients. While there are several inherent advantages to using nearshore IT talent, there are also some tell-tale signs your business needs this type of support.
By paying attention to the signs that your business could benefit from nearshore IT talent, you can pivot to this resource for obtaining talent so that you can keep your company operating smoothly.
- Your Existing IT Team Is Overwhelmed
It’s all too easy for your IT team to become overwhelmed by their current workload. In fact, a report from CIO highlights that 44% of full-time employees experience burnout at work, with heavy workloads cited by 57% of IT professionals as a leading contributor to their burnout.
Without addressing this workload, your team’s productivity will decline, as will their job satisfaction and engagement. As burnout erodes your team’s work-life balance and overall well-being, they become more likely to look for work elsewhere.
Hiring nearshore talent alleviates this issue by reducing the workload for each individual so that each team member has an appropriate level of work.
- You’re On a Tight Budget
When you need to hire additional IT talent but have a tight budget, it can be difficult to afford talent locally. This is especially true when making a full-time hire, as employers are also responsible for paying a portion of employee taxes and providing benefits such as health insurance and paid time off. Even when hiring contractors, salary expectations in the United States are often much higher than in other countries.
With nearshore talent, you can access qualified IT talent at a rate that you can afford. Differences in salary structures, currency exchange rates and cost of living outside of the United States often mean you can pay a fair wage to nearshore workers that is still significantly less expensive compared to domestic hires.
- Projects Are Getting Delayed
A common indicator that your current IT team is overwhelmed and that you need additional support is when projects are continually delayed. Quite simply, this means that your existing team doesn’t have the capacity to deliver IT products or services on time because they lack the resources or manpower.
Frequent delays can be especially frustrating for your clients and cause them to decide to do business with a different IT provider. It can also be discouraging for your employees, some of whom might adopt a “why bother” mindset when they determine they can’t realistically hit project deadlines even when they give their best effort.
Hiring nearshore IT talent helps alleviate this issue by providing the additional support that is necessary to deliver work in a timely manner. Regardless of the specific tasks nearshore talent takes on, their assistance will help your entire team work more productively.
- You Need to Scale Quickly
Growing your IT business to meet growing market demand or to reach new clients is an exciting stage for any business owner. However, traditional stateside hiring processes can be extremely time-consuming — especially when you’re looking to make a full-time hire.
With nearshore IT talent, you gain greater agility and flexibility for scaling your IT operations. Nearshore workers are generally hired as contingent talent for specific projects or timeframes. This results in a faster and more efficient hiring and onboarding process, while also giving you added flexibility to scale operations up or down as needed.
- You Need Help With Strategic Projects or Specialized Skills
Your in-house team undoubtedly has many valuable skills — but this doesn’t mean they have the skills or experience necessary to handle every IT task that comes your way. Providing training to help your team develop new skills or improve existing capabilities is a worthwhile investment, but it can be quite time-consuming. With nearshore IT talent, you can often find the specialized skills you need and put them to use immediately.
This can be especially valuable when you’re working on a project for a client and discover that your team lacks the specialized knowledge or capabilities to complete the project in an effective manner. Specialized nearshore IT talent will help you deliver quality results while making the most of everyone’s areas of expertise.
- You Can’t Focus On Your Core Business Activities
Overloaded IT professionals often find themselves unable to focus on their core or highest-priority business activities because they spend so much time on mundane or trivial tasks. In fact, one survey found that 43% of IT professionals can’t find time to work on strategic business initiatives because of how much time they spend troubleshooting their network.
Not being able to focus on strategic initiatives can significantly hamper your business’s opportunities for growth. Hiring nearshore IT talent who can address routine yet time-consuming tasks gives leadership more time to focus on higher level initiatives. This allows you to deliver greater value to your clients, identify new opportunities and potentially even expand the services you offer.
Improve Your Outcomes With Nearshore IT Talent
With a strategic approach to hiring nearshore IT talent, you can address some of the most challenging issues facing your business, boost your team’s productivity and enable your organization to deliver better results to your clients.
As you use nearshore IT talent to support your overall business goals, you and your team will be better positioned to achieve sustainable outcomes that help your company be successful in the long run.