Borrow or Hire? Engineering Req Decision Scorecard
Answer five questions about one open req and see whether to borrow an engineer or hire one.
No email needed. Your answers stay in this browser unless you choose to send them.
Score one open req on five non-cost factors, then see whether it calls for a contractor, contract-to-hire or a direct hire. Knowledge lifespan, urgency, budget source, compliance exposure and conversion intent do the deciding.
Last updated: November 5, 2026
Most contract or full-time engineer decisions get settled by whoever argues loudest, or by the budget sheet, and I left the budget sheet out on purpose, because money talks over everything else in the room and that’s how a six-month need turns into a permanent seat nobody approved.
So show me the other five factors. It’s the same instinct as my build vs buy framework, pointed at people instead of software. If you land on contract-to-hire, about 37.5% of KORE1 contract-to-hire placements convert to permanent employment (n=552). The models themselves are laid out on our contract staffing and direct hire staffing pages, and the engineers are the ones our engineering staffing desk places.
Score One Open Req
Pick the answer that’s true today, not the one you’re hoping for. Score one req at a time.
Sample answers are loaded so you can see a result.
Contract-to-hire fits best, 79 of 100. It’s a close call.
Three ways to fill it
- Contract, fit 73 of 100
- Contract-to-hire, fit 79 of 100, recommended
- Direct hire, fit 25 of 100
Contract-to-hire fits this req. Borrow the engineer with a path onto your payroll, and keep them with no fee after 1,040 hours if the work proves out. It’s a close call with contract, so check the answer that would tip it.
If your answer on knowledge lifespan were “it ends when the project ends”, this would become contract.
A KORE1 contractor can convert at no fee after 1,040 hours, and about 37.5% of KORE1 contract-to-hire placements do (n=552).
What each answer favors
- Knowledge lifespanA year or so, then it’s written down and handed overFavors contract-to-hire
- UrgencyWithin two weeksFavors contract
- Budget sourceA funded project with an end dateFavors contract
- Compliance exposureProduction access plus a background checkFavors contract-to-hire
- Conversion intentMaybe, after I’ve seen them workFavors contract-to-hire
Tell us about the req
Your recommendation, role, start and location carry into the message box, and you can edit them there. Want the money side first? Run the contract staffing cost calculator.
How Is the Recommendation Made?
Every answer hands points to all three options, each getting 0 to 3, and the five factors don’t count equally. Knowledge lifespan weighs the most because it’s the hardest thing to undo, while compliance weighs the least, since a well-vetted contractor can work inside tight controls, so it tends to tip a close call rather than settle one.
Answer the five factors
Pick the answer for each factor that’s true of this req today.
Weigh each answer
Each answer gives contract, contract-to-hire and direct hire 0 to 3 points, scaled by the weight of the factor.
Read the three fits
The highest fit wins, and a gap under 8 points is a close call.
Check what would change it
The scorecard names the one answer that, changed alone, flips the recommendation.
One rule sits on top of the points. A direct hire needs a search, an offer and a notice period first, so a start inside two weeks can’t land on one, and the scorecard moves it to contract-to-hire instead, which gets you the person now and keeps the door open.
| Factor | Weight | Leans contract when | Leans direct hire when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knowledge lifespan | 1.3 | It ends when the project ends. | It’s how the product works, for years. |
| Budget source | 1.2 | A funded project with an end date. | Approved permanent headcount. |
| Conversion intent | 1.1 | It’s a bounded job and nobody will convert. | The goal is a person on your payroll. |
| Urgency | 1.0 | Someone has to start within two weeks. | The right person matters more than the date. |
| Compliance exposure | 0.9 | Ordinary access and no regulated data. | Regulated data, audit trails or export-controlled work. |
The weights are my judgment, not a measured benchmark. Move them if your risk tolerance differs, but keep the two-week rule.
Factor 1, Knowledge Lifespan
Ask what walks out the door when this person leaves. If the answer is a finished feature, borrow. If it’s how the billing system really works, hire. A contractor two years into your codebase has learned things nobody wrote down, and I score that risk on its own in the contractor dependency risk scorecard, because the day they leave is the day you find out what lived only in their head.
Short-lived knowledge is cheap to rent. Long-lived knowledge is expensive to lose. To sort the work itself before you staff it, read which engineering work to give contractors.
Factor 2, Urgency
Contractors start fast, with a median wait from offer to first shift of 3 days on KORE1 contract placements (n=1,997), while a direct hire needs a search, an offer and a notice period before anyone sits down.
Be honest about the date. A deadline somebody invented for a roadmap slide isn’t urgency, and you’re allowed to ignore it.
37.5%
of KORE1 contract-to-hire placements convert to permanent employment, counted over 552 placements
116 days
the median length of a KORE1 contract assignment, counted over 1,887 assignments
3 days
the median wait from offer to first shift, counted over 1,997 starts
1,040 hours
of work after which a KORE1 contractor can convert to your team at no fee
KORE1 engagement data from contract placements as of October 2026, refreshed quarterly, from the records behind the Contract Rate Index 2026-Q4. The 1,040-hour threshold is our conversion policy and not a measurement.
Factor 3, Budget Source
Money has a shape. A funded project with an end date suits a contractor, and your controller decides whether it can be capitalized as a development project, while permanent headcount sits on the run budget and needs an approval that may be a quarter away.
Project money now and a headcount decision pending is the exact case contract-to-hire exists for.
Factor 4, Compliance Exposure
Controls cost time per person, since every new contractor reruns your onboarding, access review and background check, so the tighter the controls, the more it pays to bring in someone you’ll keep. Regulated data, audit trails and export-controlled work push toward direct hire.
Worker classification is its own subject and not legal advice here. KORE1 contractors are W2 employees of KORE1, and W2 vs C2C vs 1099 covers the rest.
Factor 5, Conversion Intent
If you already know you want them, say so, because contract-to-hire is built for exactly that, and if you know you won’t convert, don’t dress the job up as contract-to-hire, since a good contractor reads a trial period for what it is and plans around it. See what to expect in the contract-to-hire conversion rates.
Contract-to-Hire Terms
No fee after 1,040 hours. That’s the whole mechanism. It works out to 26 weeks of full-time work, while the median KORE1 assignment runs 116 days (n=1,887), so plenty of assignments end before the threshold arrives, and about 37.5% of contract-to-hire placements convert (n=552).
The contract-to-hire guide walks through how the conversion works, and contract-to-hire staffing is where you start a search.
Direct Hire Terms, and Why Contract Carries No Replacement Guarantee
KORE1 direct hire is 20% of base salary with a 60-day replacement guarantee. On a $100,000 base, that’s a $20,000 fee. Devin Hornick, Partner at KORE1, puts the tradeoff plainly.
“There’s really no savings in going direct hire versus contract.”
Devin Hornick, Partner at KORE1
Contract works the other way around. You pay for the hours worked, so there’s no placement fee to refund and no replacement guarantee on contract, and the commitments are that contractors show up on time, get paid every Friday and can convert at no fee after 1,040 hours. Don’t read that as a gap. The two models make different promises.
For the direct hire process itself, see our direct hire IT recruiting page.
Cost Lives in the Calculator
This scorecard leaves price out on purpose. Run the numbers separately in the contract staffing cost calculator, then come back and check the answer against the five factors. For the fee comparison, read contract-to-hire vs direct hire cost.
How KORE1 Sources, Vets and Places the Contract Engineers This Model Assumes
This part is us, not Kris. A borrowed engineer only helps if they can carry the work, so here is our side of it.
Matched to your stack
A KORE1 recruiter searches on the stack in your req, so the engineers you meet have already worked in it.
Contract engineering teamsSpoken to before you meet
Every candidate talks with a recruiter first, so your interview isn’t their first conversation about the role.
Software engineer staffingW2 with a path to your payroll
KORE1 employs the contractor on W2, and after 1,040 hours they can join your team at no fee.
Contract-to-hire staffing
Direct hire runs the other way, at 20% of base salary with a 60-day replacement guarantee, while the offer-to-start median on contract is 3 days (n=1,997), and the broader model, including how contractors are paid and when they can convert, lives on our how contract staffing works page.
Common Questions
Should I fill this engineering req with a contractor or a full-time hire?
Use a contractor when the knowledge is short-lived and the money is project money. Hire full-time when the knowledge has to stay and the headcount is approved. In between, try contract-to-hire. The scorecard weighs five factors to settle it for your req.
What’s the difference between contract-to-hire and direct hire?
Contract-to-hire starts the engineer as a KORE1 contractor and lets you convert them at no fee after 1,040 hours. Direct hire skips the trial. You pay 20% of base salary, and KORE1 replaces the hire at no additional cost within 60 days if it doesn’t work out.
Does a contract engineer come with a replacement guarantee?
No. Contract carries no replacement guarantee. The commitments are that contractors show up on time, get paid every Friday and can convert at no fee after 1,040 hours. The 60-day replacement guarantee belongs to direct hire.
How fast can a contract engineer start?
The median wait from offer to first shift on KORE1 contract placements is 3 days (n=1,997). That’s the time after the offer, not the search before it. A direct hire adds a search and usually a notice period on top.
When is contract-to-hire better than plain contract?
Pick contract-to-hire when you might keep the person but haven’t decided. About 37.5% of KORE1 contract-to-hire placements convert to permanent employment (n=552), and conversion costs nothing after 1,040 hours. If you know you won’t keep them, plain contract is the honest choice.
Know How You Want to Fill It?
Tell us the role, the start date and the location. A KORE1 recruiter will talk through the recommended way to fill it.
Fill This Req the Recommended WayNot yet? Go back to the scorecard or run the cost calculator.
