Contingent Workforce Archives

Why outsource your contingent workforce management

The contingent workforce has been consolidated in the last few years and is here to stay for the foreseeable future. Companies utilize this sector of the workforce for all sorts of purposes from project base assignments to fulfill skill shortages & absences. The question arises, does your organization’s HR department has the bandwidth to identify, vet, and onboard contingent workers without disturbing their daily operations and without taking them away from your companies full-time employees. The answer to that question is, well it depends. Today’s contingent workforce is vastly different than it used to be. These workers are highly trained, specialized, and in-demand professionals. Moreover, they expect to be treated as such. Making sure the procurement process goes smoothly, guarantees employee satisfaction and retention. Identifying the right contingent worker: According to the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) it takes approximately 36 days to fill… [Read More]

Hiring temporary workers for seasonal workloads

As the holidays are fast approaching, the demand for temporary or seasonal workers will rise. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in the final months of the year has risen by up to 20% the past 6 years. There’s no doubt a growing U.S. economy has contributed to the magnitude of this expansion. The benefits of hiring temporary workers to boost your company’s productivity during seasonal demands cannot be understated. Some of the benefits of hiring temporary workers include: Provide flexibility in uncertain economy Smaller companies need to stay flexible when it comes to their workforce. Uncertain economic times are inevitable. Businesses are bound to experience periods of both increased and decreased customer demand. Being able to ramp up a workforce and, subsequently, scale it back when necessary is a very desirable tool for business owners. Introduces your company… [Read More]

The Three Buckets of Contingent Workforce

HR professionals in today’s ever-changing workforce climate are told to accomplish more with less. Tightening talent pool, changing technologies and trying to keep your employees happy are calling for more flexible and creative ways to solve your workforce challenges. Fortunately, becoming more strategic is in our DNA. For many, that increasingly means who we hire to help build the future of our companies. The contingent or contract worker has exploded in the last few years, growing from 10% of the workforce in 2010 to a predicted over 40% of the workforce by 2018, according to reports by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. This can certainly be credited to the rise of the gig economy in global markets. There are many categories of contingent workforce, below I drill down and try to categorize 3 common members of this labor pool. The Temp Worker This category… [Read More]

Get Real Savings Through Third-Party Payrolling

As organizations increasingly rely on contingent or contract workers to fill mission-critical roles, business leaders are looking for ways to boost their company’s bottom line savings. One scenario where this can be the case is the MSP/Vendor rate of third-party payroll utilization – the percentage of spend for contingent or contract workers who are sourced directly by the organization and W2 payrolled by a third party vendor. Increasing third-party payroll utilization offers many benefits to companies, from driving down costs to streamlining the talent acquisition processes and even reducing risk. Not all vendors, however, are structured for or support this approach. For example, when utilizing a staffing firm or staffing-aligned MSP to source for your open positions, be prepared to face markups that can range from 35% to 50% for agency-supplied workers. Rather than accept these markups unconditionally, business leaders should look for opportunities available… [Read More]

Why Compliance Matters in 2017

With a new era of quickly changing regulations and market trends, compliance is now the top challenge and focus for employers in 2017. The year began with a change in administration, bringing along an overhaul of employment law. In addition, the increase in utilization of contingent labor has continued. Contingent and contract workers, freelancers and independent contractors are flooding the labor market in more numbers than ever before, a trend known as the “gig economy.” With this trend, the risks of non-compliance grow. The federal government is now eager to enact more stringent policies to ensure compliance with tax and regulatory standards. In particular, the United States Department of Labor is more focused on misclassification of workers and has heightened reactions to these cases. Businesses today cannot afford to overlook the importance of maintaining compliance in managing their contingent workforce. It is easy for an… [Read More]

How to Recruit The Right Talent and Avoid Hiring Catastrophes

Recruiting the right talent is essential to the success of a business, while bad hiring decisions are exceedingly expensive in terms of both time and money. Additionally, high employee turnover lowers morale and creates discouragement within a company. These hiring disasters could have been avoided and the lost resources could have been invested in the right candidate. To that end, companies like Google have adopted the “law of three” for interviewing candidates. This recruiting technique and ones like it are designed to avoid costly hiring mistakes. The “law of three” encompasses the following rules: (1) Always interview a minimum of three candidates. Managers are tempted to end their search early when a suitable candidate is found. Discipline yourself to continue interviewing. The more people you interview, the greater the pool you can select from and the greater your chances of finding the right person. (2)… [Read More]

The Rise of the Gig Economy

With the rise of what is now known as the “gig economy,” the job market is changing. The gig economy is an environment in which short-term, temporary work is preferred to traditional employment. This contingent workforce is utilized for single projects or tasks, employee absences or field expertise. The benefits of this type of labor have been recognized by both employers and workers alike. For the worker, the gig economy offers flexibility and diversity not found in the traditional job market. Many short-term engagements, such as consulting “gigs,” do not have a firm work schedule. Workers have a newfound flexibility in completing these projects or tasks. This type of work also introduces the ability to diversify. A worker is no longer chained to one company and one position. Contingent workers have the option of career exploration. They can work for many different businesses across a… [Read More]

Employer of Record Services

What is Employer of Record services? Assuming the role of Employer of Record gives rise to a complex set of rights and responsibilities. To protect the rights of employees, labor laws and regulations impose numerous duties on an employer. These same rules also impose costly penalties for employers who breach these obligations. For this reason, the role of Employer of Record carries an inherent risk of liability. To mitigate this risk and maintain positive employee relations, an employer must have a clear understanding of the legal obligations involved. According to Intuit 2020 report, 20-25% of the workforce is currently involved in some aspect of contingent work or alternative work arrangements. A number that is expected to rise to 40% by 2030. With the rise in the number of contingent workers, there’s a demand for services that help companies establish well-run programs that can utilize this… [Read More]

Hiring Challenges for your Office

As we approach the last quarter of 2014 it is good to evaluate where you are in your hiring plan and see what challenges you may face for the remainder of the year. Each region has specific needs and challenges so it is important to understand them in context. Here are several things to consider for the rest of 2014 and moving into the new year. Mobile Recruiting. Almost everyone today uses a smart phone or tablet device regularly. In fact, the number is over 91%. Many of these smart device users access the internet strictly through their mobile phones. 7 out of 10 job seekers are using their phones to search for jobs. Be sure to evaluate your mobile recruiting strategy to target these potential employees. Work with your web designer to ensure that your information is easy to access on a phone or… [Read More]

Hiring is an Investment

As a hiring manager it is important to keep in mind that hiring should not be considered an impulse purchase. It feels like such an emotional decision: you meet someone and there is instant chemistry. They might remind you of you when you started in your job. It is easy to want to make an offer on the spot. Experts suggest that you resist this temptation and put some additional thought and research into hiring candidates. Here are some helpful tips to help you make the right hiring investment. Sharpen Your Interviewing Skills. When conducting interviews it is a good idea to keep the content more or less the same. When you compare interviews it is good to have a bench mark of information to compare. Go beyond the resume and ask questions to get detailed and in depth answers about their experience and behavior… [Read More]