From the recruitment and workforce point of view, the year 2022 was very happening. As the world managed to survive COVID-19 and tried to enjoy normalcy by calling the workforce to office, the era of ‘Great Resignation’ started. We get to see many interesting resignations happening around us.
These changes affected contingent workers as well. The contingent workforce, which includes independent contractors, freelancers, temporary workers, and consultants, made up a great workforce section and is delivering great skills.
As the year 2022 will end very soon, it’s important to learn about contingent worker trends for 2023 if you wish to experience seamless workforce labor management. This post throws light on this topic only.
Contingent Workforce – The Future Is Bright
A contingent workforce makes up a huge part of the global workforce. In the US alone, there are nearly 51.5 million registered contingent workers that are hired by managed IT services companies, enterprises, and businesses of all sorts.
As this workforce delivery method brings tons of benefits to the business, its expansion is obvious. Its growth started after the Great Recession of 2007 and continues.
Seeing the deeper penetration of contingent, we can easily call it a mainstream workforce delivery method. To conclude, the contingent workforce is no longer associated with just “non-core” business functions. Rather, the contingent workforce is also associated with highly-skilled employees that can provide value to multiple areas of a business.
Here are a few stats to back out statements.
The average contingent workforce growth is likely to be 29 percent by 2030. (Source: Staffing Industry Analysts).
- Randstad confirmed there is a nearly 20% hike in demand for a contingent workforce in the year 2021. (Source- Randstad).
- As per US Government Accountability Office, the contingent workforce is likely to be nearly 50% of the total US workforce by 2050.
- The key reason behind shifting to a contingent workforce is its cost-effectiveness, as 32% of employers feel that it is a great way to hire desired skills at an affordable cost. (Source: Gartner).
The above statistics ensure that Contingent workforce hiring certainly has a bright future, and this domain is very less likely to experience any slowdown.
Contingent Worker Hiring Trends For 2023
If you’re someone who has already shifted to contingent worker hiring or planning to do it shortly, being aware of the industry trends is a great move to make. Here are some attention-worthy trends that are likely to shape contingent worker hiring in the future.
- Hiring going global
Earlier, workforce hiring was limited to local candidates that could be available for the job immediately. However, this behavior is slowly changing. Unless it’s purely field work, companies are now willing to hire global talent. Those who are looking for budget-friendly talent are hiring from Asian countries like China and India.
In fact, India is one of the top preferences for hiring a contingent IT workforce.
With the use of video conferencing tools and advanced technology, going global and hiring talent beyond the boundary is possible, and the trend is on the rise.
- Great Resignation will continue to impact this domain
The era of the Great Resignation has impacted the global workforce, and the contingent workforce is no exception. But, it has caused positive outcomes in this field. Organizations realize that it’s hard to please regular employees.
Even if organizations are not allowing work from the office and calling back their workforce, employees prefer remote work. This way, organizations have high workforce overheads.
No matter how much effort is made, it’s not easy to retain regular employees. They seek a contingent workforce as a viable option as it then gets the job done without being worried about benefits and perks.
- Deeper penetration of vendor management software
As more and more organizations engage contingent workers, there is a boosted need for feature-rich VMS or vendor management software. It’s an easy way to manage the contingent workforce, gain visibility in the key operations, and optimize the ROI.
As per Staffing Industry Analysts, nearly 76% of companies have managed to save huge operational costs with VMS. It’s easy to achieve constant communication with a dispersed workforce.
- MSPs are going to be the first choice for hiring quality contingent workers
As the importance of contingent workers grows, companies don’t want to take any risks. They want quality, apt skills, and commendable skills in the contingent worker as well.
Even though gig marketplaces like Freelancer, Fiverr, and Upwork are quality-oriented, businesses often don’t take their help as there is no guarantee of hiring talent. Hence, they take the help of MSPs or Managed Service Providers that endow them with seasoned talent with an assured guarantee. MSPs also provide an all-inclusive solution. So, if you need an upgraded skill set, you can easily do that.
Concluding Words
Great Resignations, reduced operational costs, easy skill updates, and global talent pools are key reasons that allow organizations to switch to the workforce labor management. As you make a move in this direction, don’t forget to update yourself with the driving trends of this domain that we just shared. With these, you will have the best talent by your side.