The cost of hiring architects: in office vs offshore

Finding cost-effective professional architects can be a demanding task. But that can be hard to do if you have to account for:

• Sourcing
• Onboarding
• HR and ongoing admin costs
• Office space and equipment

So, what do you do when you need architects to assist in all parts of the production ecosystem? The answer is Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). And just what is this practice? It’s a tried-and-true method that will help your business keep quality up while reducing unnecessary costs.

But you can’t just do it without taking the necessary steps and precautions. It’s critical to have the right company at your disposal to scale smartly and sustainably.

First, let’s take a look at why recruitment costs alone can tank your budget. Then, we’ll take a more in-depth look at the overall cost of hiring architects, including factors like time, HR costs, overhead, and more.

Let’s get started!

Something you probably don’t factor into the “average cost of architect” is the time you will spend looking for one. Niche specifications will take longer, because it’s not the same CAD support and drafting services than, say, a Rhino expert.

But the rule is the more time you spend, the more money you burn as well.

For 2023, the average cost of employee recruited varies between $3500-4000. As you know, recruitment is not a one-and-done deal but rather an ongoing, multi-step process. Additionally, the costs vary depending on your available tools and recruitment infrastructure.

And it’s not just about having talented recruiters and talent scouts! Places to search for cost-effective architects are also important; free sites like Facebook or LinkedIn (although it has a Premium option too) are extremely useful. Then, there are paid alternatives such as Glassdoor or Indeed.

But, even if job seekers can post free of charge, there’s usually a fee for recruiters. That’s the name of the game and it’s something you should consider while on a recruitment drive.

So, how much can one of these sites set you back? Base packages that allow you to post 10 jobs simultaneously will cost around $20 a month. $100 will typically allow you to create unlimited posts that will appear higher on search results — useful if you need to fill out positions in a hurry.

The cost of architect services can also suffer from salary negotiations. If you don’t agree on wages, then you may have to start the whole process from scratch. That’s $3500-4000 down the drain.

In-office time is not exactly what we would call cost-effective. On average, it takes 41 days to hire someone for any position. Some jobs may have a shorter hire time than others, but it’s a good rule of thumb when looking for full-time staff architects.

Of course, this doesn’t have to be you. Our foolproof method can help you reduce the time and cost of hiring architects. On average, it takes us less than a week to fill any position on your staff.

But let’s say you don’t take our advice. Picture the monetary cost of trying to fill a position and taking 41 days and many attempts to get it right. If you won a bid for an urgent project, you may be short-staffed while not even done with the sketching or pre-design. Since a bit over a month is what most companies take to finish this stage, you may be completely behind schedule. Plus, you may have to include this delay in your cost of architect plans.

But, if you follow our methods, we can take care of finding the right cost-effective architects for you — for free! You just need to choose the professionals that fit your criteria, and you’re good to go.

And not just that! When you hire architects from South America, you keep delivering the quality your clients are used to, but at a fraction of the cost — 40% of your usual!

You know those all-too-necessary IT and HR departments? Well, those, along with infrastructure costs, can be expensive. And even though recruitment costs will fluctuate, administrative costs will likely remain constant.

But what usually doesn’t remain constant is the size of your staff. If you’re trying to scale your company, you’ll also have to increase the size of your HR department. A good rule of thumb to remember here is that you may need one HR staff to 10 employees. Of course, you may have extremely good HR professionals that can service twice that number, but you always get to the point of overload.

Then, you need to account for office space. More employees = more space, more overhead, and more infrastructure. If you don’t have any more physical space, then it’s time to expand! That’s the only time when you may need architects for a job inside your own office.

But outsourcing lets you cover all of these needs without tacking on any additional costs. Think of it as having an external architecture-focused HR department.

HR Tasks Take Time
Time is money, and there’s no getting around the truth of that adage. If your HR department has to work overtime, or they struggle with completing tasks, you may need to expand or optimize.

This adds exponentially to the cost of hiring architects, believe it or not. If your staff is also suffering from overload or burnout, you may have to face resignations or have to hire extra staff.

How do we help you sidestep this situation? By giving you access to pre-vetted, accredited architecture professionals from Latin America. We make sure they’re good enough for the job before you even talk to them. We act as your external HR department; you tell us what you need, and we make sure to connect you with the right talents.

There’s no need to expand your operations if you let us handle things on our end.

Outsourcing can help you reduce the cost of an architect by nearly two-thirds. It’s also a great way to reduce the strain of hiring new architects. If you partner with the right company such as BetterPros, you’ll be able to solve most of the problems detailed above. And not just that, hiring for specialized positions becomes quick, easy, and painless!

Something that sets BetterPros apart from most other BPOs is that we don’t charge you for recruitment. Most other companies include that as part of their fee. Since we’re not just talent scouts, what we want is for your to partner up with the right professionals in our rosters — professionals we’ve taken the time to recruit and whose skills we’ve assessed thoroughly.

And also, we’ll make sure our candidates fit your profile and company culture. It’s not just about skills but the intangibles that make someone right for you.

With Better Pros, you’ll hire South American architects who are accredited by the best universities in Latin America. We also make sure all of our architects:

• Speak English at a near-native level.
• Work in your same time zone or close enough that you won’t have to worry about playing a game of musical chairs.
• Work with a varied portfolio of skills and types of software.
• Understand US measurement systems.
• Have vast experience working with US-based companies.

Also, you get something that’s even harder to get: the knowledge that these professionals can deliver the goods. As per our article about Outsourcing Architectural Services:

“One of the main issues we’ve seen when outsourcing architectural services is that many people are just good at self-promotion. But that doesn’t mean that they’ve actually got the goods! Sometimes, you may see people on online marketplaces or social media hyping themselves up and talking big game. You may look at their rates and think, “Hey, where’s the harm in that?” and give them a shot. And occasionally, these professionals may even know how to use rendering programs or other software. They may offer things like CAD outsourcing services or Revit drafting services. Yet, they may not necessarily be architects or accredited professionals.”

But, with BetterPros you can have your cake and eat it: the cost of hiring architects goes down, but the quality of your results stays consistent.

BetterPros is here to act as much more than an external HR department. We’ll help you hire architects from South America who will help you gain more projects, scale your company intelligently, and maintain your reputation.

We’ll make it easy, quick, and much more cost-effective for you without compromising anything in the process. You can triple your costs while keeping profits down and get started in less than a week.

Contact us for a free consultation and start your architectural outsourcing journey today! You won’t regret it!