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The Contingent Workforce: What Is It, Why Is It Growing and What Are Its Benefits?

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Technology is changing our society at a breakneck pace, and the world of work is also shifting as a consequence. Our opinions, beliefs and even feelings towards work are changing quickly, and this is affecting the very nature of labour.

These changes have given rise to the contingent workforce – a growing group of talented professionals who work with several companies on an on-demand basis.

In this post, we’ll take a closer look at the contingent workforce and explore the key reasons it is multiplying.

What Is the Contingent Workforce?

The contingent workforce refers to professionals who work with organisations on an on-demand basis. Those professionals are most often freelancers, independent contractors, agency workers and consultants.

Why Is the Contingent Workforce Growing?

A combination of diverse factors is behind the growth of this contingent workforce. If you can understand the motivations behind the different members of the contingent workforce, you’ll be better able to connect with them.

Here are just some of the main contributing factors according to some experts:

Key Contingent Workforce Statistics

Here are some key statistics about the contingent workforce to paint a clearer picture of its impressive growth:

  • The latest statistics from the Office for National Statistics show that almost five million workers in the UK identify as self-employed.
  • Data from Simply Business found that the UK experienced a 31% annual rise in people looking to go freelance in 2018.
  • According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, contingent workers in the US are twice as likely as non-contingent workers to be 25 or less.

The Power of the Contingent Workforce for Employers

Now that we have a clearer understanding of the contingent workforce and its growth, let’s dive into the key benefits for employers:

1. Cheaper than full-time employees

Every business owner knows just how expensive it can be to hire and retain a full-time employee. There are several significant costs associated with doing so, such as salaries, national insurance contributions, recruitments expenses and much more.

Once a business has made a full-time hire, it has to make a significant commitment to that employee. Replacing an employee is very expensive, which is why it’s so critical businesses make the right decision.

These dynamics mean that it’s often much cheaper for businesses to hire from the contingent workforce. Doing so allows companies to circumvent many of the costs that are traditionally associated with full-time employees.

Members of the contingent workforce will often charge a higher hourly rate, but businesses still make significant savings by working with those professionals.

2. Faster to find and hire

There are a lot of common challenges for companies looking to hire new talent. To begin, they’ll often struggle to attract and engage with the appropriate candidates. They’ll also have to invest a lot of time and attention into cultivating a strong employer brand.

The candidate experience has to be flawless, too, if businesses are going to secure the brightest and most in-demand talent.

These factors mean that it now takes an average of 38 days to fill an open position. That’s not counting all of the time that is required to onboard and train a candidate once they have been hired.

The contingent workforce offers an exciting opportunity for businesses in this respect. Companies can leverage data-driven recruitment tools and platforms to find the talent that they need in a matter of days instead of weeks.

This speed means that businesses can now identify a distinct need and then fulfil it in the same week. This gives those businesses a significant competitive advantage, and if they call upon the contingent workforce accurately, they’ll be able to move their businesses in the right direction.

3. Talented and diverse

Several studies have demonstrated that diverse workplaces enjoy a range of critical advantages. Those workplaces are often more creative, productive and performant, for instance.

Businesses that call upon the contingent workforce for short-term projects get to benefit from a more diverse workforce. Those on-demand professionals will naturally bring a whole new set of attitudes and approaches that can deliver lots of value for businesses.

This regular injection of new talent helps businesses to keep abreast of new developments and even get a glimpse into best practices picked up in other companies. It’s a significant advantage offered by the contingent workforce.

Experience the Power of the Contingent Workforce with Elevate

The contingent workforce is here to stay – are you prepared? Join a number of the world’s leading brands and access Elevate’s leading Talent Intelligence platform today.

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Agile Talent Is On the Rise: Here Are Five Reasons Why

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A blend of novel technologies and shifting attitudes towards work mean that the demand for agile talent is soaring. Today, countless businesses seek out agile talent temporarily.

According to figures from a global survey conducted by Staffing Industry Analysts, contingent workers accounted for 20% of workforces in 2017 – a significant leap from 15% in 2014.

In this piece, we’ll take a closer look at the key reasons agile talent is now becoming vital to the success of any growing business.

What Is Agile Talent?

Before we begin to explore the factors driving the popularity of agile talent, though, let’s quickly clarify precisely what we mean by this phrase.

There are many different types of contingent work and, therefore, categories of contingent workers. In its research study titled The Case for Contingent Work, Staffing Industry Analysts outline five key categories:

  • Temporary agency workers
  • Other directly-sourced temporary workers
  • Temporary workers
  • Human cloud workers
  • Independent contractors

Agile talent tends to refer to highly-skilled contingent workers who collaborate on a short-term basis with several businesses.

Why Is Agile Talent So Popular?

Let’s dive right into the reasons that agile talent is becoming a popular choice for businesses around the world.

1. Faster to hire

According to findings from Jobvite’s 2018 Recruitment Benchmark Report, it takes the average company 38 days to fill an open position. This varies, of course, depending on the employer and the vacancy that they are hoping to fill.

That’s a significant amount of time, and it means that many businesses often find themselves stuck without the talent that they need. In today’s fast-moving business world where each day counts, that can significantly harm the growth of a budding business.

Those new team members will often need to go through an extended period of onboarding, too, to understand internal policies and procedures.

Agile talent is the perfect solution to this problem. Businesses can find, recruit and onboard agile talent in a matter of days. This helps companies to keep moving forward at an impressive pace.

2. Build diverse teams

Diverse workplaces are often more creative, productive and performant. Those businesses benefit from a variety of perspectives, and the majority of people relish the opportunity to work as part of a diverse team, too.

Agile talent can help to make businesses more diverse. Those professionals often work on a short-term basis, meaning that businesses can benefit from fresh perspectives and backgrounds regularly.

This dynamic can help businesses to evolve constantly. Those agile team members will bring new perspectives and best practice with them, too, assisting the companies to improve and learn through exposure to new professionals continually.

3. Find unique and flexible talent

Findings from The Open University Business Barometer suggest that over the course of 2018, a staggering 91% of organisations in the UK struggled to find workers with the right skills.

There’s a significant skill shortage, and this is still an issue today. In the same report, 70% of senior business leaders said that deficit was responsible for a longer – and more expensive – recruitment process.

This dynamic also places the power in the hands of those talented candidates, who can now command high salaries. This means that it’s becoming increasingly difficult for businesses to access the talent that they require.

Agile talent could be the key. These tech-savvy professionals work on a more flexible basis, and they’ll often move from one project to the next, which means that their unique talents are more accessible to businesses.

This is why so many businesses are turning to agile talent to resolve their skill shortage issues. As the demand for more specialist skillsets continues to increase, we’ll be sure to see this preference for agile talent grow.

4. Cut costs dramatically

Finding and employing full-time workers is incredibly expensive. Businesses have to consider the following significant costs when hiring talent:

  • Recruitment costs
  • Salaries
  • National insurance contributions
  • Pension contributions
  • Holiday pay
  • Sick pay
  • Maternity and paternity pay

There are several other factors to consider, too, like equipment and the costs that are associated with sourcing and maintaining a healthy working environment.

Putting together a full team can place a substantial financial burden on any business. This is one of the key reasons that companies, both large and small, are turning towards agile talent.

While agile talent may command a higher hourly rate, businesses can still expect to make significant savings – all while enjoying the additional benefits that agile talent brings.

5. Prepare for the future

Figures from Wonolo suggest that if the gig economy continues its current rate of growth, 50% of the US workforce can be expected to participate in it by 2027. There are similar trends taking shape in the UK and beyond, too, so businesses should be sure to try and develop their agile talent strategy sooner rather than later.

As time draws on, we’ll see that those businesses with a mature agile talent strategy will enjoy privileged access to the best talent at the best rates.

A big reason for the success of those businesses will be established alumni talent pools. Are you intrested to learn more about what those talent pools could do for you? Be sure to read our piece on why building a corporate alumni network makes sense.

Retain, Engage and Attract Your Agile Talent with Elevate

Are you currently riding the wave of agile talent? Develop a keen strategy, and you’ll be sure to unlock all of the benefits above.

Interested about the prospect of finding the best talent exactly when you need it? Join some of the world’s leading brands and access Elevate’s leading Talent Intelligence platform today.

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