March 2020 HR Strategy & Planning
 

Indusrty Research Report Summary: The State of the Free Agent Nation and Contingent Workforce 2020

Leverage new work arrangements to boost agility and productivity

Posted on 03-26-2020,   Read Time: - Min
Share:

WFM_MAR2020_IR_logos.jpg
WFM_MAR2020_IR_Button.jpg

In recent years, many organizations have tapped into the contingent workforce, but the future of such work arrangements is uncertain. 

Organizations want to know, “How important will the contingent workforce be over the long-term?” and, “If it is here to stay, how should we efficiently and effectively source contingent workers?”

To gain a better understanding about how organizations acquire and manage the contingent workforce, we ran a survey from October 2019 to January 2020.

Highlights from the survey:

Finding #1: The contingent workforce is widespread, with the vast majority of organizations using contingent workers for some portion of their workforce.

Ninety-one percent of organizations use contingent workers. In 47% of organizations, contingent workers make up just 1% to 19% workforces, but some firms are “power users” of such employees, with 22% of firms saying contingent workers make up more than 50% of their workforces. Roughly half expect the size of their contingent workforce to increase over the next three years.

Finding #2: Cost and quality are the most important criteria organizations consider when choosing a source that provides access to contingent workers.

Companies use contingent workers for a variety of reasons. About three-fifths select a contingent source based on rates and fees (59%). Nearly as many select based on quality of personnel (57%). Whereas, the third most widely cited selection criterion is industry specialization (45%), followed by ease of use (40%).

Finding #3: Organizations struggle most with engagement and communication when it comes to managing contingent employees.

Nearly half (47%) of the respondents say a top challenge is “ensuring they (contingent employees) are engaged.” In addition, HR professionals cite difficulty in communicating well with contingent workers (39%) as a main challenge. Hiring is also a challenge. Two-fifths indicate their organization has difficulty ensuring the contingent worker is a culture fit (37%) and another quarter say their organization fails to find enough of the required skill sets (27%).

 WFM_MAR2020_IR_Graph.jpg

To learn more about The State of the Free Agent Nation and Contingent Workforce 2020 survey and to get strategic outcomes and key takeaways from this exclusive HR.com Research Institute research, please read the complete report here:

WFM_MAR2020_IR_Button.jpg

Error: No such template "/CustomCode/topleader/category"!
 
ePub Issues

This article was published in the following issue:
March 2020 HR Strategy & Planning

View HR Magazine Issue

Error: No such template "/CustomCode/storyMod/editMeta"!