How Outsourcing Can Lead to Knowledge Loss (and Howdy's Solution)

When outsourced engineers churn, critical knowledge walks out the door. Howdy.com builds stable, long-term teams that retain context and keep projects moving.

WRITTEN BY

María Cristina Lalonde
Content Lead

Most outsourcing models treat engineers as short-term resources. Contracts end, people roll off, and hard-earned product knowledge disappears with them. Teams left behind spend weeks (or months) retraining replacements and rebuilding lost context.

"Throughout my career, I’ve hired contractors who were here today and gone tomorrow. There’s often no loyalty — and it goes both ways." — Walter Quiroga, President & CEO at Ciphertext Solutions

When people cycle in and out, continuity suffers. Codebases lose consistency. Documentation lags behind reality. Teams waste time re-explaining systems instead of improving them.

The hidden cost of churn

Traditional Outsourcing Howdy High turnover and constant retraining Stable, long-term engineers Lost knowledge with each handoff Institutional knowledge stays in-house Short-term contractors Committed team members

When contractors leave, valuable knowledge leaves with them. Over time, teams lose track of decisions, undocumented fixes, and the "why" behind key choices. Product memory fades, documentation lags, and technical debt piles up.

Instead of building new features, leaders end up focused on retraining and reorienting new hires to recover lost context. Replacing technical employees can take several months of ramp-up time and result in major productivity losses.

"We wanted shared investment — in both the mission and in our engineers’ career growth — something we could all rally around. That kind of relationship has been hard to find with subcontracting." — Nate Eide, VP of R&D at SimSpace

Howdy’s continuity advantage

📊 98% Engineer Retention Howdy’s average retention rate keeps knowledge, speed, and trust intact — so teams don’t lose months of progress.

At Howdy.com, engineers join with the intent to stay and grow. Each team member builds on their experience over time, deepening their understanding of the product and the people they work with.

Our model emphasizes stability. With retention rates above 98%, Howdy teams maintain context, strengthen collaboration, and continuously improve code quality. The result is a development culture built on trust and accumulated expertise.

Howdy engineers remain engaged because they’re supported locally, connected culturally, and aligned with the goals of the companies they work alongside. That combination keeps knowledge inside your team where it belongs.

Retain knowledge, maintain momentum

Continuity is what turns a team into an engine for growth. With Howdy.com, you keep the same engineers who know your systems, your culture, and your goals.

Book a demo with Howdy.com and see what it’s like to build without losing momentum.