The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the transition away from traditional workforce models. According to a new report released today by Randstad Sourceright, 56 percent of employers are expecting to shift more of their roles to contingent, project, or contract work as a result of the pandemic.
Randstad Sourceright’s 2021 Talent Trends research found that the pandemic has led employers to increasingly adopt a more flexible approach to talent while still maintaining key expertise and skills within their permanent workforce to better adapt to ongoing economic recovery efforts. In particular, the survey found that 77 percent of C-suite and HR leaders say their talent strategy is now focused on workforce agility more than ever before.
“As organizations embrace a more agile way of working during the recovery and in the future, simply engaging more contingent talent may not be enough. Companies will need to look at their workforce and skills more holistically. This requires nurturing a diverse and inclusive culture, investing in a consumer-like talent experience enabled by technology, and using market intelligence and talent analytics to understand skills availability,” said Mike Smith, global CEO of Randstad Sourceright. “It’s a chaotic time, but disruption often leads to transformative results, and organizations should consider how to take this opportunity to redefine work and the use of all forms of talent.”
Contingent Talent
According to McKinsey & Company, flexible labor has the potential to be the key to a company’s success in years ahead.
With the increased focus on contingent talent, employers are realizing there is an opportunity to leverage their recruitment capabilities not only for permanent talent, but also to attract and engage with flexible talent as well. In fact, 69 percent of organizations expect to implement total talent management in 2021, and nearly half (47 percent) of organizations are increasing budgets allocated for total talent investment.
To aid recruitment efforts, employers are tapping HR technology tools to redefine and enhance their talent acquisition strategies. Seventy-one percent of organizations say artificial intelligence-powered solutions and robotics will make the recruitment process more efficient, and believe that these tools will allow them to source, attract, and engage more of the right type of talent.
“Deploying talent analytics is essential for companies trying to achieve greater agility,” said Smith. “During this period of recovery, it’s imperative that organizations are assessing how leveraging new tools and data can expedite their development of a more holistic, agile workforce strategy.”
Key Findings
- The concept of the workforce is becoming less defined: More than half (51 percent) of employers say they have consolidated internal responsibilities for permanent and contingent workers. This number was just 44 percent in 2020.
- Remote work is on the rise among contingent talent: Prior to the pandemic, only 28 percent of contingent workers at employers surveyed worked remotely, but that number rose to 44 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020.
- Artificial Intelligence creates jobs and displaces workers: Seventy-two percent of talent leaders believe that AI will open up new opportunities for talent, but 52 percent also say jobs will be lost from broad adoption of automation and AI.
- Companies are embracing talent analytics: Forty-two percent report they are increasing their investments in talent analytics, and another 36 percent are holding their talent analytics budget steady.
The report is based on responses from 850 C-suite and talent leaders across 17 markets globally. For more information, review the Q2 2021 issue of Talent Trends Quarterly, “The rise of the agile workforce.“
