From the Harvard Business Review, Steve King and Gene Zaino discuss companies need for a flexible workforce to compete globally and how they are turning to independent workers to find the skills they need. They write:
Recent research illustrates the growing corporate use of contingent workers:
- In 2014, nearly 35% of the average company’s workforce was contingent or contract-based and this percentage will grow to 45% by 2017, says supply management firm Ardent Partners in its 2015-2016 State of Contingent Workforce Management.
- More than half (51%) of corporate HR respondents said their need for contingent workers will keep growing over the next three to five years, according to the Deloitte Consulting’s Global Human Capital Trends 2015 study.
- McKinsey Global Institute’s Connecting Talent With Opportunity in the Digital Age study forecasts that the growing use of online contingent talent platforms could add $2.7 trillion, or 2%, to global GDP and increase employment by 72 million full-time-equivalent positions by 2025.
Our own research reinforces these findings. The MBO Partners 2015 State of Independence workforce study found that 6.4 million Americans report that they provide professional services to corporations on a contingent or contract basis. Of these, about 2 million report earning $75,000 or more last year.
Not only is this group large—by way of comparison, this is substantially more than the roughly 4 million Americans who work in the automotive industry, including those working in car dealerships and automotive parts retailing—it’s also growing. Our study shows the number of contingent workers providing professional services to corporations has been growing at about three times the rate of overall employment over the past five years.
Read the full story at Your Company Needs Independent Workers
