Across industries, especially in sectors like technology and healthcare, organizations are increasingly grappling with skills gaps. As innovation accelerates, many businesses are finding it harder to maintain a workforce that can keep pace with rapidly changing demands. From mastering new technologies to navigating complex regulations, companies are under pressure to recruit skilled professionals, often in niche areas.
One solution that is gaining traction is leveraging contingent workers: professionals who provide their expertise on a temporary, project-based or part-time basis. An HR.com study found that 84% of companies today use contingent workers. This strategy enables companies to bridge critical skills gaps, maintain business continuity and even foster long-term growth.
As organizations continue to adopt new technologies and business models, skills gaps are only likely to widen. The tech sector, for instance, is experiencing a growing need for specialized roles in areas like artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and data science. A 2024 survey found that 65% of tech leaders have skills gaps within their departments, and 62% say these gaps have a greater impact today compared to the previous year.
Rather than struggling to upskill existing employees or taking on the cost of hiring full-time workers for short-term needs, leveraging contingent talent offers a more flexible, cost-effective solution. Contingent workforce benefits include specialized skills on demand, enabling businesses to quickly fill critical roles without long-term commitments. This flexibility helps businesses stay competitive, adapt to change and focus on bridging the talent gap more efficiently.
With remote work becoming more normalized, the opportunities to hire skilled contingent professionals across borders have expanded. A global talent pool provides organizations with access to workers who may not be available locally but possess the exact expertise needed to drive projects forward. This global approach to contingent hiring adds to business continuity planning, allowing companies to maintain operations and innovation, even during times of talent shortages.
Identifying critical skills and selecting contingent workers
Before organizations can bridge their skills gaps, they must first clearly identify them. This requires a data-driven approach, where HR leaders conduct a thorough skills assessment of the current workforce. By evaluating existing competencies against strategic business goals, companies can pinpoint gaps in their talent pools and prioritize the skills needed for future growth. Identifying emerging trends and technologies is also critical, as it gives insights into the skills needed to remain competitive.
Once the necessary skills have been identified, businesses can take several approaches to source contingent workers. Direct sourcing—where companies tap into talent pools they’ve already developed—is one effective strategy. These talent pools can include past employees, former applicants who were highly qualified but not selected for a full-time role, previous contingent workers self-sourced by the company and independent contractors previously used for other projects.
By maintaining relationships with these workers, businesses can quickly bring them back for new assignments, minimizing the time spent on vetting and onboarding. Additionally, hiring talent from direct sourcing talent pools boosts engagement, as these workers already have experience with the organization, its culture and potentially its long-term goals.
To ensure a successful match between contingent workers and organizational needs, HR leaders should also evaluate candidates based on some key criteria:
- Cultural fit: Even though contingent workers are temporary, aligning them with the company’s culture enhances collaboration and overall productivity.
- Team dynamics: Will the worker’s personality and communication style mesh well with your existing team?
- Specialized experience: Workers should possess the niche expertise necessary to fill the necessary skills gaps while demonstrating adaptability to work within existing team dynamics.
- Timeframe: Can the worker commit to the project’s timeline and workload?
- Flexibility: Is the worker adaptable to changes in the project scope or schedule?
Mitigating risks of a contingent workforce
While contingent workers offer flexibility and speed, there are potential risks that HR leaders need to manage carefully. One such risk is the potential for knowledge drain when workers complete a project and leave the organization. This can be mitigated by requiring comprehensive documentation, including technical specs, business requirements and product summaries so that knowledge remains within the company even after the worker departs.
Another challenge is inconsistent quality or engagement from contingent workers. Strong vetting processes and clear contract terms can reduce this risk. Maintaining a balanced workforce, where key roles are filled by permanent staff and contingent workers are used strategically for specialized tasks, ensures effective business continuity planning while minimizing over-reliance on temporary workers.
Finally, one of the biggest challenges is making sure contingent workers are fully integrated into the existing workforce without disrupting team cohesion. A successful integration starts with a robust onboarding process. By involving the EOR provider or staffing agency in the onboarding, organizations can ensure that contingent workers have all the tools, access and information they need from day one. Clear communication around project deliverables and timelines is also essential. Teams that understand the expected outcomes are better able to collaborate, stay focused and deliver results, regardless of whether team members are full-time employees or contingent workers.
HR leaders should also facilitate regular check-ins and create opportunities for contingent workers to interact with their full-time counterparts. This fosters a sense of belonging and keeps all team members aligned with the organization’s broader goals.
In today’s global market, contingent workers have choices, and the best talent gravitates toward organizations that recognize their value. Offering competitive rates and ensuring they have access to benefits from their agency is crucial for attracting top contingent talent. However, motivating contingent workers requires more than just compensation. To truly align them with company goals, organizations need to create an environment of inclusion and engagement. By clearly connecting their work to broader company objectives, HR leaders can help motivate these workers beyond simply completing projects.
Embracing the long-term benefits of contingent talent
Strategically leveraging contingent workers allows businesses to adapt quickly to changes and continue growing even in the face of talent shortages. By focusing on bridging the talent gap with contingent workers, organizations can maintain business continuity and avoid the costs of extended vacancies in essential roles. Moreover, this talent pool provides contingent workforce cost savings through lower overhead, as businesses only pay for the expertise they need when they need it.
In industries undergoing rapid transformation and in need of specialized talent, being able to quickly pivot and bring in the right talent can be the difference between lagging behind competitors or surging ahead. For HR leaders, contingent workers are more than a stopgap—they are a key part of a future-proof workforce strategy.
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