A recent study conducted by Intuit (makers of Quicken and Quickbooks) predicted that by 2020 more than 40% of the US workforce — more than 60 million workers — will be freelance or contingent workers. This number is sharply higher than the last government survey taken in 2006, which listed the number of independent and contingent workers at around 30%, or 42.6 million workers.

That 40% of American workers could be non-traditional workers startled me but it also made perfect sense. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the sluggish economic recovery has chipped away at the unemployment rate, which is in slow decline. The remarkable exception is job growth among temporary, contingent, and independent workers, which has increased by 29% since 2009. This rise in the non-traditional workforce makes sense as companies have become more agile and employees have become better connected.

Mobile technology, anywhere internet access, and the ready availability of software and services that help manage a contingent workforce are surely leading this change from a location centric workforces. Indeed my own company, GeniusHR, has staff that is scattered across the US and we’ve become very adept at communicating and getting work done even though we don’t all office together.

As an HR professional who closely tracks the evolving nature of HR in today’s companies, this whole acceleration of an independent workforce got me thinking about the challenges that will soon be confronting HR departments with increasing frequency. It is imperative that HR staff be prepared for what will surely be new problems to grapple with, such as:

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