Contingent workforce is a term used to describe employees who are hired for a specific period of time or specific project. These workers may be freelancers, contractors, gig-workers, temporary employees, seasonal employees and other non-permanent forms of employment. Businesses use contingent workers because this type of staffing allows them to manage fluctuations in labor needs in an economical and efficient way.
In practice, businesses use contingent workers for a variety of reasons such as augmenting the skills available in their existing teams during peak workloads or periods of specialized activity. They can also be used to quickly fill gaps when regular employees are on vacation or maternity/paternity leave and they can be hired quickly based on their expertise and trial period if required. Companies also look towards point solutions – when only a particular task needs to be accomplished — these can be done with a contingent worker specialization required for short-duration projects at reasonable costs.
Overall Contingent Workforce enables companies the flexibility in managing their labor force strategically rather than just relying on traditional staff hiring processes. By leveraging Contingent Workforce strategies, organizations can tap into skillsets they would not normally have access to while being able to cost-effectively add new capabilities through its contractual arrangements that typically involve no overhead attached beyond the current project’s ongoing basis.
The Typical Contingent Workforce Employment Types?
- Temporary Employees – work for a specific duration of time, though the length may vary from job to job, and are usually hired on a short-term basis by an employer seeking help with an immediate project or workload.
- Freelance Workers – freelancers provide contracted services for their clients, often in exchange for payment either on a per-project or hourly wage basis. They are typically independent contractors who are fully responsible for managing their own hours and workload while still meeting the requirements of their client list.
- Contractors – possess specialized skills and knowledge that can fill gaps within a business or industry, making them ideal candidates when certain projects require specific expertise nobody else in the organization may possess. The terms of contract work vary depending on the client’s needs and the arrangements set between both parties ahead of time.
- Interim Staffing – an increasing trend in businesses is the implementation of interim staffing solutions as a way to cover gaps within staffing levels as well as mitigate risk related to team development tasks during periods of transition. This type of employment is ideal for flexible data entry, accounting work, IT support, customer service, and many other types of jobs including managerial where the temporary assignment is necessary but full-time employment isn’t desired or feasible in terms of budget concerns or long-term goals.
- Outsourcing/Consulting – Working with outsourcing agencies can provide outside resources from experienced professionals which can add extra capacity to existing teams at an agreed rate instead of having overstaffed resources working extra hours. This not only adds financial benefit in comparison but also removes any additional stress brought upon existing teams due to added pressure from exceeding workloads henceforth creating a balanced workforce dynamically without overcommitting financially or emotionally towards its labor force management strategy.
