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Thirty-eight percent of the U.S. workforce is contingent—in 10 years, this figure will rise to 50%, according to talent solutions firm AMS. As companies grapple with managing this increasingly complex workforce composition, the strategic deployment of contingent labor—workers hired on a temporary, project-based or freelance basis—has emerged as a critical competitive advantage.
Doug Leeby, CEO of contingent workforce platform Beeline, says the financial impact of strategic contingent workforce management is significant. “There are numerous methods and examples of cost savings attributed to companies who proactively and deliberately manage their contingent workforce,” Leeby explains. “Data is at the heart of this.”
What workforce data does HR need?
The transition from reactive to proactive workforce planning requires a data shift in how organizations view their talent ecosystem. The first critical step involves gaining visibility into what Leeby calls the “shadow workforce”—the external workers operating within an organization without being tracked in traditional HR systems.
With external labor accounting for 40% to 50% of some companies’ labor costs, according to Beeline, understanding where non-full-time workers reside throughout the organization becomes essential for effective planning. “With a clean data set, the enterprise can incorporate the external workforce into its workforce planning operations,” says Leeby.
