Hybrid Resourcing: Nearshoring and Offshoring

In an era of persistent technological growth and innovation, the face of tech resourcing is evolving. The geographical constraints that once dictated resource acquisition have loosened their grip, allowing for innovative solutions in the face of persistent staffing challenges, such as skill shortages. A potent response to this development is the emergence of hybrid resourcing, a fusion of nearshoring and offshoring strategies. This article explores the intricacies of this new approach, revealing its value in the current and future tech resourcing landscape.

A Glimpse at the Tech Resourcing Landscape

As we venture further into the post-pandemic era, lingering questions haunt the tech industry. Is location still a definitive factor in tech resourcing? Do cities continue to harbour the lion's share of tech resources? The profound shift towards hybrid resourcing and its capacity to overcome staffing limitations suggests otherwise.

Cyclical Hiring: A Response to the New Normal

An interesting trend has emerged amidst these challenges—cyclical hiring. As per Kirk Winstanley, COO at BankiFi, cyclical hiring is becoming a new normal in the tech sector, with skill shortages remaining a constant as technology usage and digital transformation surge. With an estimated 85 million jobs projected to remain unfilled due to a dearth of skilled personnel, businesses are compelled to rethink their staffing strategies.

Addressing Cross-Industry Challenges with Hybrid Teams

Leaders across the tech sector have acknowledged the enduring challenges related to hybrid workforce planning and retention. The resilience of hybrid teams, core functionality, and the potential for task misinterpretation within global hybrid teams are now viewed as ubiquitous issues that demand effective resolution.

Kefirah Kang, Director of Professional Services at Finexos, noted that when she was tasked with helping pull together a start-up team in London, she wanted to keep the implementation team in-house, and very much London-based, but augmented with targeted tech outsourced support from India and China.

She realised the key to success was hybridity - offering implementation through tech resource in London for the majority of the contract, while outsourcing very select, defined aspects of the work to outsourced tech houses. This keeps direction and implementation hyper-focused at home while utilising offshore solutions and development from other markets - the best of both worlds.

A diagram illustrating the concept of hybrid resourcing.

Outsourcing Leadership: A New Perspective

A pivotal point of discussion lies in the question of outsourcing leadership, and the most effective forms of leadership as tech companies seek support by using nearshore and outsourcing solutions. A variety of opinions were shared, such as how much leaders can, or should, invest in in-house leadership, or how companies could outsource operational direction to put decision making closer to out-of-office teams.

However, there was much cross-table agreement too, such as the majority of our guests stating that to ensure secure streams of resource, business leaders must focus squarely on the resource themselves - what they want, how they work, and how they work well - rather than leaning on legacy recruitment tactics that assume resource can only be sought from certain areas, via certain means, or for fixed roles.

Or, indeed, that leadership is only as effective as its proximate relation to development.

Addressing Cross-Industry Challenges with Hybrid Teams

A common agreement amongst tech leaders is the need to focus on the resourcing themselves—their desires, their work methods, and their efficiency. The consensus is to move away from conventional resourcing tactics and to stop assuming that resource must be procured from specific regions, via specific means, or for set roles. Instead, the key is to understand and facilitate how associates can be managed and optimised, irrespective of their geographic location.

Relevance of Location: Skill vs. Expectation

The geographic location of tech resource is gradually becoming less relevant, especially for niche skill sets such as python and react qualified engineers. Many of our roundtable members noted that they are less bothered about where engineers and developers live (with some stipulating they want to work in UK time zones), with the majority stating that skill requirement dominates hiring considerations, and adaptability of hybrid resourcing becomes an invaluable asset.

However, for roles like sales and marketing, centralised operations are still favoured. This preference hinges on the nature of these teams, who thrive in a collaborative office culture. However, when location is a factor, the adaptability of resourcing services emerges as a primary concern.

Hybridity: The Optimal Approach

When considering the geo-specific dimensions of tech solution delivery, hybridity emerges as the best approach. It involves a fine balance between directing and implementing in-house, while utilising offshore solutions from other markets. The next section explores this approach in depth.

Adapted Collaboration Models: The Future of Work

Neville Roberts, Founder of Planixs, noted how “the tech recruitment (environment)….is the worst I’ve seen in 30 years”. Tech shortages are hitting fever pitch, and resourcing services are increasingly relied upon to guarantee basic business continuity, as well as contributing to growth strategy or scaling.

In the current tech resourcing environment, tech shortages are reaching new heights. This has led to a reliance on resourcing services to ensure basic business continuity and contribute to growth strategy. This challenging scenario calls for unique measures—what Kefirah Kang, Director of Professional Services at Finexos, calls "adapted collaboration models". These models require leaders to consider various factors, such as time zone turnaround, coding skills necessity, cross-departmental product development ownership, and staff retention throughout the project lifecycle.

Rethinking Traditional Resource Strategy

In summary, it is essential for tech business leaders to reconsider traditional resource strategies and introduce a bit of hybridity—nearshoring and offshoring—into the mix. Location, though important, is not as critical as delivery, trust, operational agility, and outcomes.

A diagram of the evolution from traditional resourcing to hybrid resourcing.

The Power of Hybrid Resourcing

In the shifting sands of the tech landscape, hybrid resourcing represents an innovative approach to overcoming staffing hurdles and driving operational efficiency. By combining the strengths of nearshoring and offshoring, businesses can unlock the full potential of global tech resource, adapting to the changing needs of the industry. The future of tech resourcing is indeed hybrid resourcing, moulded by the evolving demands of a dynamic tech world.