Contingent hiring has exceeded pre-pandemic levels, with the average organization reporting that their contingent hiring has increased 20 percent in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the first quarter of 2019.
Since early 2020, the pandemic has changed how many businesses are operating. Organizations have had to transition towards remote work models, they have had to enhance their agility to quickly adapt to paused projects, as well deal with other challenges such as a workforce shortage and supply chain disruptions.
The result? Businesses have had to become more flexible, and that’s changed how they view their workforce.
To improve business agility and flexibility, a large number of organizations have turned to the contingent workforce (a pool of non-employee talent that includes freelancers, consultants, contractors and temp workers), and the average percentage of contingent workers in any business is growing significantly.
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With that in mind, here are the three top reasons why organizations are today turning to the contingent workforce to better fulfill their workforce requirements.
#1 - Recruitment challenges
Recruitment in today’s market is incredibly competitive. It’s expensive, it’s difficult to fill the right positions with the right workers, and it doesn’t provide businesses with the flexibility and agility they need to succeed in the current uncertain economy.
The workforce market has been made even more competitive in recent months with The Great Resignation creating a huge gap between the number of advertised roles, and the number of available workers to fill them. In fact, it’s estimated that a staggering 50 percent of American workers are looking to change their job.
To address the challenges associated with hiring employees, organizations are turning to staffing agencies and contingent workers to fill those gaps.
When managed properly, with a vendor management system, a contingent workforce management program can help businesses to fill vacant positions, improve organizational agility, reduce recruitment costs, and speed up the time to hire.
#2 - Remote work has opened new opportunities
With the vast majority of organizations having to pivot to work-from-home models over the past couple of years, many companies now have the infrastructure and capabilities to manage a distributed workforce.
Contingent workers can typically work from wherever they want and whatever hours they want, and this has traditionally discouraged many businesses from utilizing this workforce. However, with remote work infrastructure in place, many companies are now willing to dip into the contingent workforce to fill their talent requirement.
This rising acceptance of both remote work and contingent workers is allowing businesses to broaden their talent pool.
#3 - Economic uncertainty
The world has been unpredictable since the beginning of the pandemic. Projects have had to be paused in some situations, we’re moving into a period of high inflation, there are supply chain disruptions and nobody really knows what the next few months (let alone year) will look like.
This all means that it’s incredibly difficult for organizations to predict what their workforce needs will be in the future. To ensure they are able to meet demand both now and in the future, today’s businesses must focus on business flexibility and agility - with the ability to scale their workforce up or down depending on market demand.
Working with staffing agencies and having a contingent workforce program in place allows organizations to do just that. The contingent workforce enables businesses to assess company needs on an ongoing basis, allowing them to quickly pivot depending on market conditions and demand.
Do you want to better manage your contingent workforce for improved ROI? Book a demo with Conexis VMS today and learn how our innovative vendor management system, that has specifically been designed to be easy and cost-effective to use, can help.
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