How Covid-19 has impacted the contingent workforce

Covid-19 has no doubt had a huge impact on the way we work, with an increase in remote working for millions of office workers, however a trend that has greatly accelerated, is the increase in need for contingent workers.

What are contingent workers?  

Contingent workers are people who work at a given business but are technically employed by a staffing company. Since the crisis began, we have seen many businesses greatly increase the proportion of their contingent workforce

Why has there been a rise in contingent workers?

2020 has been very unpredictable for businesses, and with no doubt more unpredictability to come, it is difficult for organisations to predict what their labour needs will be.  Initially, many organisations responded to the pandemics economic impact by reducing their contractor budgets, however as we move further towards a more normal way of life, there has been a shift.

Using contingent workers allows businesses to ramp their workforce up or down without having to worry about letting permanent employees go if their business suffers.  Latest research shows that organisations will use contingent workers to maintain more flexibility in workforce management post Covid -19 and as much as 32% of organisations are replacing full time employees with contingent workers as a cost-saving measure.

Contingent workers can help provide specialist expertise that isn’t needed on a permanent basis, however they are key in ensuring workforce gaps are met and businesses are able to meet peak demand

Personal benefits of becoming a contingent worker

There are many benefits to being a contingent worker and one major advantage is you get the opportunity to build up your professional skills. You will get the opportunity to work on a variety of projects with different companies, as well as the opportunity to work with a variety of corporate managers and decision makers. All of this will look great on your CV and make you more marketable, and with the rise in contingent workers at the moment, now is a great time to start.

Why businesses should be open to contingent workers

As discussed we can expect the demand for contingent workers to rise as we navigate to a new way of life in the wake of the pandemic. Organisations will look to tackle new challenges and discover new opportunities as new patterns of work and consumer behaviour emerge and businesses look for new ways to thrive.  If businesses want to be able to create new products or tap in to new markets they will quickly need to be able to access professionals with the relevant expertise, and this is where contingent workers come in.

For the foreseeable future business environments and revenue are unpredictable and business leaders will focus more heavily on cost. Hiring contingent workers mean businesses are able to bring on expertise to help with new projects without adding permanent layers of cost to the business

A shift towards contingent working was already underway in a pre-pandemic world, and as we move through the pandemic and come out the other side we will await to see what the future holds for contingent workers but it seems like they are only on the up.

Original article posted by TCP, a people2.0 Company