Body leasing - what is it?

Body leasing is usually used as a short-term form of cooperation. It is not difficult to imagine a situation when a company needs an expert to perform a task that is not present in its team. He must have the appropriate knowledge, experience, and skills in a specific field, but there is no need to employ him permanently. However, nothing stands in the way of cooperation in this model lasting longer – even many years.

It all depends on the projects implemented by the company (e.g. software house), the constant demand for specific competencies, and the culture of the organization. In terms of costs, this form of cooperation differs from traditional contracts concluded with an employee. Instead of the payment addressed directly to him, the cost is the subscription paid to the intermediary – he covers his commission and the remuneration of the delegated specialist.

In Poland, there is often a belief that a full-time job is the best form of employment, as it is the only one that ensures stability for both the employee and the employer. However, the situation, especially in the IT market, is quite different. The high dynamics of the development of the industry make it necessary to constantly acquire new skills and competencies – for the company to remain competitive, and for the employee to develop. For this reason, other forms of employment are often used instead of full-time employment.

IT specialists are distinguished by high mobility – they are often ready to move to another place for some time to carry out tasks for the company there. They are also constantly looking for opportunities to improve their skills. For this reason, a full-time employee who would not receive new incentives (because, for example, the company is looking for a new investor or has no active projects), would quickly start looking for a new employer. It would also be a heavy financial burden for the company itself.

Body leasing of employees was originally carried out directly between companies based on cooperation and mutual links, but now it is a rarity. It requires an extensive network of contacts and knowledge of the staff of other companies. There are more and more companies that, in addition to carrying out their own and subcontracting projects, have specialized in providing employees to other entities. Thanks to having a large team of specialists, they can quickly offer another company the right person for the job.

This is significantly different from the complicated and expensive recruitment process – not only does it not give 100% certainty as to the acquired person, but it can also take many months. So if the company needs a specialist for a long time, whether due to a long absence of a full-time employee resulting in the need to replace him or the lack of appropriate competencies in the team, it is worth opting for such a temporary form of cooperation.

Body leasing IT gives the company numerous benefits:

• omitting the time-consuming recruitment process allows you to acquire an employee much faster, thus avoiding downtime, the need to look for other technical solutions or difficulties related to the employee’s unforeseen indisposition;
• in the event that specific competencies are not needed in the company all the time, it allows for a noticeable reduction in the costs of acquiring (e.g. hiring an agency for the recruitment process) and maintaining an employee compared to employing him full-time;
• greater flexibility in shaping the team – not every employee has a wide range of skills to always be able to assign appropriate tasks. Temporary cooperation allows you to dynamically select the skills of the team and its size.

The specificity of body leasing resulting in a high rotation of IT specialists in the company sometimes raises doubts related to privacy – a temporary employee gains partial access to data, trade secrets, and know-how of the company. People unfamiliar with this form of cooperation may be afraid that they will use the solutions he has observed when performing similar tasks for a competitive company. Fortunately, there is no such risk, and the protection of the company’s interests is ensured by appropriate provisions in the contract.

The issue of stability of project development is also raised when too much of the team works temporarily – how many people are to have permanent employment and how many are obtained from external intermediaries depends only on the company and is not imposed in any way. If the company has a negative experience related to this, instead of abandoning this form of acquiring specialists, it should simply decide to cooperate with a better intermediary.

Although for some IT specialists, the traditional sense of stability provided by a permanent employment contract may be important, body leasing is no worse in this respect. The employee is bound by a contract with an agent responsible for delegating him to perform specific tasks tailored to his skills and directions which he wants to develop. This form of employment provides specialists with the opportunity to improve their skills and learn about various organizational cultures.

In the case of experts with particularly narrow specializations, this solution brings benefits related to the lack of the need to independently search for entities to which they could offer their services. Body leasing of employees conducted by an experienced agent relieves them in this matter, allowing them to focus on work and devote more time to it, and thus also earn more. Many people also appreciate the try-and-hire mechanism, where temporary work can result in permanent employment.

Body leasing is most often recommended for short-term cooperation (when performing a specific task or part of the project) or limited in time to a few weeks. A frequently raised argument is the costs of the service borne by the borrower, which must cover the employee’s salary and the commission of the intermediary company. Our long-term cooperation with Motorola proves that this is not true, and IT body leasing allows you to manage your budget more easily and reduce expenses.

Companies looking for IT specialists do not have to carry out a long and costly recruitment process or keep an employee whose skills are needed only occasionally for years. On the other hand, experts save valuable time by omitting the search for advertisements tailored to their skills and requirements. Therefore, body leasing is an ideal solution for both short- and long-term cooperation for both parties.

Do you still hesitate if the build-operate-transfer service is suitable for your company?
Write to me Katarzyna Bodziony (sales@infolet.pl) – I’ll help you make the best decision for your business!