Staff augmentation (team extension, body leasing)
Renting developers from a vendor to work inside your team under your direction, instead of buying a project with an agreed result.
Vendors call it team extension or staff augmentation; in Poland and much of Europe the blunter name is body leasing. Nearshore means a vendor in a nearby time zone, offshore a distant one. You pay per person-hour or per month, usually on time and materials, and the result is your responsibility: the vendor promises people, not outcomes. It works when you have a lead who can direct the work; without one you pay for hours nobody steers.
Related terms
- Time and materials (T&M): Paying for the hours actually worked; scope can change, cost and timeline move with it.
- B2B contract (Poland): How many Polish developers work: as their own registered business, invoicing the client monthly instead of being employed.
- Employer of record (EOR): A company that legally employs someone in their country on your behalf, handling contracts, payroll and taxes, while you direct the work.
- Rate card and blended rate: A rate card lists the vendor’s hourly or daily price per role and seniority; a blended rate is one average price for the whole team mix.
- Bench (on the bench): Software house slang for employees between projects: paid but not billable, so the vendor wants to place them on a client as soon as possible.
