Sourcing and retaining technical talent is a defining challenge for modern businesses. Technology is evolving faster than traditional talent pipelines can adapt, making it difficult for companies to keep up with emerging demands in areas like systems architecture, AI, cybersecurity, automation, and machine learning.
If your organization is struggling in this area, you're not the only one. It's an industry-wide problem. More than 537,000 tech job postings were active in March 2026, according to CompTIA. That's 9.7% higher than February's and 8.9% higher than the same month last year. It's clear that employers are struggling to build tech talent pipelines to meet accelerating demand.
Choosing effective IT staffing solutions will help your organization attract and retain the talent you need to succeed. Which IT staffing models should your company use? Let's take a closer look at the overall market and some of the most common models so you can make an informed decision.
The Main IT Staffing Models
Since technology staffing presents so many challenges, you must find an IT staffing model that attracts talent and improves tech talent retention. The following four models each have pros and cons you should consider before deciding which approach to take.
Contingent and Contract Staffing
With contingent and contract staffing, you can tap into an existing pool of qualified professionals. If you need someone to fill a position immediately, contract staffing could be the right option.
There are tradeoffs to weigh. Since you have to pay the staffing agency, your IT hiring costs will likely increase. Contract staffing can also mean that you get limited long-term commitments from workers. Once the contract expires, they may pursue other opportunities rather than stay with your company.
Direct Hire and Executive Search
Direct hires and executive search often work well when you need to fill senior and specialized roles. Finding the right hire is a slow process, but taking deliberate steps means you end up hiring someone who can fulfill all of the position's duties.
Agency fees are a real consideration, typically running 15% to 25% of first-year salary, though for the right role, the investment in fit and retention often justifies it.
Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)
Outsourcing works well when you need to fill a high volume of roles quickly or sustain ongoing hiring across multiple markets.
Where it tends to fall short is depth. RPO models are built for throughput, and that same volume focus makes it harder to match technologists to highly specific technical requirements. Skills validation is often limited to resume screening, and there's typically little training infrastructure behind the placements.
Workforce Training Partnerships
With workforce training partnerships, your business collaborates with a training program to create programs that align with your unique needs. The people who complete the program should have the specific skills required for difficult-to-fill jobs. Depending on the training partner you choose, you could also create multiple programs to fill different roles.
A well-designed workforce training partnership can produce job-ready technologists. You might also get placement guarantees and post-hire support to ensure that your employees get the training needed to keep up with technological changes.
What IT Staffing Actually Costs
All IT staffing comes with a cost, whether you do everything in-house, outsource to an agency, or partner with a training program. Don't let IT hiring costs prevent you from adopting a reliable IT staffing model that helps you retain employees. The truth is that a bad hire or short-tenure hire will cost you much more.
Replacing an employee typically costs 50% to 200% of that employee's salary after you account for recruiting, training, and lost productivity. SHRM's turnover calculator can help you estimate the real cost of replacement for your specific roles.
Tech positions also take longer to fill than most. On average, you can expect to spend 29 to 43 days replacing an employee, depending on the position's complexity. Every day a role sits open, productivity gaps widen.
Reducing turnover is one of the best ways to protect yourself from lengthy hire times and high IT staffing costs. When you find the right person, you protect your business and clients from expensive gaps in talent.
Best Practices for Evaluating an IT Staffing Partner
There's a lot to weigh when choosing an IT staffing partner. Some best practices to follow include:
- Prioritizing partners that demonstrate placement outcomes, not just placement speed. The goal is job-ready technologists who will stay with your company for the long haul, not someone who will do the job for a short time before moving on to a new opportunity.
- Looking for a partner who knows how to validate skills. Anyone can screen a resume. It takes much more to test and validate someone's skills to ensure they're prepared to fill your open position.
- Assessing what happens after placing a new hire. Choose a partner that offers ongoing support and access to upskilling programs.
- Asking for placement guarantees. Not all staffing providers can guarantee placement, which often signals something about the consistency of their pipeline.
Per Scholas as an IT Staffing Partner
Per Scholas trains and places technologists across IT support, cloud architecture, cybersecurity, data, and software engineering. With more than 30,000 technologists trained, 1,000+ employer partners, and 30 years of operation, Per Scholas brings the scale and track record that enterprise hiring demands.
Employers that partner with Per Scholas report 30% to 50% higher retention compared to traditional hiring sources. That's not just a better hire. It's a meaningful reduction in the backfilling costs and productivity disruption that make IT staffing so expensive over time. Plus, Per Scholas alumni have access to two years of no-cost upskilling and certifications after you hire them. They keep pace as technology evolves.
If your current IT staffing approach is producing shorter tenures or higher costs than you need, Per Scholas offers a different model. Let's talk about what a pipeline built to your needs actually looks like.