In my last post, I talked about the seismic shifts underway in regard to how candidates and employees think about work. Between the “Great Resignation,” “Quiet Quitting,” and mandates from the C-Suite to RTO (Return to Office), many companies are struggling to keep and bring top talent back to a traditional work environment.

Today, let’s talk about one of the strategies talent leaders are considering to help them navigate the imbalance in labor supply and demand … tapping contingent staff.

According to a U.S. Government Accountability report, 40 percent of the U.S. workforce is made up of contingent workers, with the average organization having 18 percent of its workforce employed on a contingent basis.

The concept of 1099 employees is something that many organizations find challenging, citing a lack of consistent work quality and their own lack of understanding of how to gain access to workers with specialized skills. But as Gartner recently stated, as talent needs to evolve, employers will need to focus their strategy on hiring for “skills required to drive the organization’s competitive advantage and the workflows that fuel this advantage.”

In other words, our ability to meet our corporate goals and build organizational resilience today, and in the future, will likely rely on a blended workforce.

The Agile Workforce of Tomorrow

While few would argue that the workforce of tomorrow will include a greater number of contingent workers, the dynamic nature of the market — and the market for talent as well — has been leading organizations to ramp up their use of contingent workers today.

Many companies have developed comprehensive strategies to include the use of these agile contributors to help them improve operational performance, lower labor costs, source rare or hard-to-find talent and inform future staffing decisions, and provide more organizational flexibility as market conditions change. But forward-thinking talent leaders at organizations of all sizes are including contingent workers as part of a workforce strategy that anticipates where the business expertise needs to support tomorrow.

Work will continue to evolve. The preference many workers have for flexible, location-independent work and the role that technology plays in making this kind of work possible has had an impact on the rapid growth of the contingent workforce. And there will always be a need to close the gaps between employees and employers to gain alignment on what both need to move ahead.

Here at Aspirant, we can help your organization assess and design a talent program that combines both permanent and 1099 employee options. Our high-touch and holistic approach to workforce planning and strategy, helps our clients reduce agency spend to bring the best talent to move your organization forward.

Learn how Aspirant’s RPO solutions can help you achieve greater outcomes in your recruitment efforts. Fill out the form below to connect with our team today.