Is projectsourcing just an expensive workaround for hiring full-time employees?
It’s quite the opposite! By leveraging highly skilled consultants, companies can accelerate CAPEX and OPEX initiatives, access niche expertise, and maintain full control over execution—without the long-term overhead. AETHER has helped organizations turn ideas into action, proving that projectsourcing isn’t just about filling gaps but about enabling real innovation, optimizing resources, and letting engineering companies staying ahead in a rapidly evolving market.
Launching Critical Intrapreneurial Projects
One of the main reasons for hiring consultants is simply to kick-start a CAPEX or OPEX project. Many directors have ideas to improve or innovate within their scope but lack the available resources to execute them. A consultant helps create a favorable momentum, enabling directors to act as true intrapreneurs within the company, with direct or indirect return on investment.
Access to Highly Qualified Experts
Consultants go through a rigorous selection process, often more advanced than internal hiring or recruitment agency screening. They tend to be highly comfortable working in project-based environments and teams. Additionally, they are results-driven, constantly seeking improvement and professional development. By expanding their expert networks, consultants provide access to external knowledge and maintain continuous industry monitoring. Finally, consultants are engineers who thrive on project-based work, enhancing overall productivity, fostering creativity, and ensuring optimal flexibility.
Maintaining Direct Control and Influence Over the Work
Unlike hiring an engineering firm, projectsourcing allows companies to maintain direct control and communication with experts, ensuring that actual needs are addressed effectively and optimally integrated. Projectsourcing is also significantly more cost-effective than external consulting firms, which typically subcontract consultants, add a margin for guaranteed results, and charge for every request modification—often delivering results that do not fully align with expectations.
If a company lacks a qualified project manager to oversee CAPEX or OPEX investments, a project management consultant can help define requirements, lead all project phases, and provide clear reporting to management.
Flexibility to Adapt to Fluctuating Workloads
Market conditions are increasingly uncertain and volatile. Companies can no longer invest in resources with the guarantee of long-term growth. Some opportunities are temporary and unsuitable for their existing teams. In other cases, clients require specific expertise that is difficult to internalize. These factors make consulting an especially relevant option.
The notice period of a consultant remains limited compared to employees, providing further flexibility when facing both short-term and long-term projects.
Reducing Internal Pressure and Focusing on Strategic Tasks
Unlike temporary staffing, projectsourcing involves complex tasks that require high levels of qualification and focus, such as conducting studies, managing projects, or auditing industrial methods. By delegating these tasks to a consultant, the company gains immediate and targeted expertise without the need for internal training.
During peak workloads, having a consultant allows companies to better distribute tasks and prevent burnout among internal engineers. It also ensures that strategic aspects—such as innovation development or client management—are not neglected. Projectsourcing thus becomes a key lever to optimize work organization and ensure overall company performance.
Focus on Core Business Activities
If the required expertise is not part of the company’s core business, projectsourcing eliminates the need to invest in a resource that may not be fully utilized or able to evolve within the organization. For example, a factory investing in a new production line, specialized equipment, or facility expansion will not always have similar projects to keep engineers engaged in the long term. Internal engineers may also lack the time, interest, or skills to manage these initiatives. Projectsourcing allows companies to bring in highly qualified experts for specific needs without disrupting internal structures.
Streamlined HR Processes
By outsourcing the search and management of engineers, companies optimize their HR processes (recruitment, administration, development). Not all team leaders have the patience or passion to handle HR-related tasks. A consultant is always managed by a dedicated account manager, serving as the single point of contact, simplifying communication and HR management. This intermediary smooths interactions in both directions, ensuring that HR concerns are addressed quickly and efficiently. This setup prevents team leaders from needing to deal directly with internal HR departments, which are often less responsive or familiar with the specifics of a consultant’s mission.
A Quick Solution for Unexpected Departures
If an internal employee unexpectedly leaves the company, a consultant can immediately step in to take over responsibilities while the company reorganizes or hires a replacement. Moreover, if the workload remains steady, companies often have the option to internalize the consultant. Many companies aim to maintain 30% of their engineers under consulting contracts to ensure maximum flexibility and responsiveness to market fluctuations.
Controlled and Transparent Costs
The budget allocated to a consultant is clear and encompasses all associated costs. It includes not only the consultant’s direct remuneration but also all related expenses, ensuring optimal financial visibility for the company.
- Direct costs: Monthly salary, benefits, bonuses, mobility expenses, training, taxes, severance provisions.
- Indirect costs: Amortization of sourcing and recruitment expenses by the projectsourcing company
Conclusion
Projectsourcing is a powerful tool enabling companies to adapt to market fluctuations, access top-tier expertise, and ensure continuity in strategic projects. Beyond flexibility, it provides a structured framework that simplifies resource management and enables the rapid mobilization of experts for targeted assignments. It is also an effective cost-optimization strategy, reducing long-term financial commitments while ensuring a timely response to temporary needs. In an increasingly complex and uncertain economic environment, this approach allows companies to remain agile, responsive, and competitive in an evolving market.
