(context: mercs)
In theory it's supposed to provide a temporary boost, not something you maintain on an ongoing basis.
how is this supposed to work though? for this to make sense there would have to be a reliable and quick way to contact mercs. i wont visit every colonized system in hopes of finding one *after* i took on a difficult task.
Perhaps there could be a structure you could build on player colonies that would increase the chances of mercs appearing. I'm pretty sure a mod does this but I see no reason why it couldn't be in the base game. Maybe a structure is too much, maybe it would require an initial story point investment.
Another possibility is that there could be "personnel" contacts that would inform you of more specialized mercs and where to find them, for a finder's fee of course.