[joelaaronseely]

I fourth this comment. It's possible that everything will go swimmingly for them. But it's also possible they'll run into all kinds of problems, such as inexperienced programmers, poor communications, slower feature deliveries, difficulty with managing the team, etc.

There's a skill that good programmers have of understanding at a visceral level what the customer is asking for and delivering that and more. But a good programmer often does this "effortlessly" which leads a company to believe that all programmers are like this, so you should just find the cheapest one. They're not all the same and companies that have made this mistake quickly learn to cherish their good programmers (whether employees or contractors).