U.S. Contingent Workforce Statistics

Jobs

Staffing companies match millions of people to millions of jobs.

• 2.9 million people per day are employed by staffing companies.
  
• 12 million temporary and contract employees are hired by U.S. staffing firms over the course of a year.
  
• 79% of staffing employees work full time, virtually the same as the rest of the work force.

Flexibility

The staffing industry offers flexibility to both employees and companies. People can choose when, where, and how they want to work. Companies can get the skills they need to keep fully staffed during busy times.

• 66% of staffing employees say flexible work time is important to them.
  
• 64% of staffing employees report that their work gives them the scheduling flexibility and the time for family that they desire.
  
• 90% of client businesses say staffing companies give them flexibility to keep fully staffed during busy times.

Bridge

Temporary and contract work provides a bridge to permanent employment. People can try out a prospective employer and showcase their skills for a permanent job.

• 88% of staffing employees say that temporary or contract work made them more employable.
  
• 77% of staffing employees say it’s a good way to obtain a permanent job.
  
• 80% of staffing clients say staffing firms offer a good way to find people who can become permanent employees.

Choice

Many people choose temporary and contract work as an employment option. They can select their work schedules and choose among a variety of diverse and challenging assignments.

• 67% of staffing employees say choice of assignments was an important factor in their job decision.
  
• 23% of staffing employees have little or no interest in a permanent job—they prefer the alternative arrangement over traditional employment.
  
• 33% of staffing employees say they work for a staffing company because they like the diversity and challenge of different jobs.

Training

The staffing industry provides free training for millions of temporary and contract employees to help meet today's demand for skilled workers.

• 90% of staffing companies provide free training to their temporary employees.
  
• 65% of staffing employees say they developed new or improved work skills through their assignments.
  
• 40% of staffing employees say they choose temporary or contract work as a way to obtain employment experience or job training.

Staffing Statistics - Staffing Facts. [American Staffing Association]

Workforce Vision * Post: Bill Inman * Human Capital * Contingent Workforce * Globalization * Trends * Outsourcing

Demand-Driven Workforce Management

Kronos', a leader in technology for workforce time tracking, descrbes "Demand-Driven" Workforce Management on their website. This exemplifies a major advantage to utilizing a contingent workforce which is the reduction of labor costs when a workforce can be easily augmented or cut back in conjuction with company and customer needs.


When the workforce is not aligned with demand (as in the above chart), your organization risks being overstaffed against customer volume, production workloads, or the patient census, all of which increase your payroll costs. Worse, it can also lead to understaffing and the inability to meet your customer service and quality standards. Rectifying the situation may require excessive use of overtime and premium labor.
Demand-Driven Workforce Management helps you to perfectly align the workforce with demand. As a result, you can reduce labor costs by minimizing overstaffing and improve quality by avoiding understaffing. Most important, your frontline managers can take a more proactive role in improving business performance. They are better able to manage responsibilities associated with staffing budgets, labor law and policy compliance, and employee satisfaction.

The Demand-Driven Workforce. [Kronos]

Workforce Vision * Post: Bill Inman * Human Capital * Contingent Workforce * Globalism * Trends * Outsourcing

Managing Your Contingent Workforce

Contingent Workforce Strategies has published group of articles on managing external contractor and temporary worker labor forces entitled "Managing Your Contingent Workforce." The articles provide a solid knowledge base for professionals who seek to gain cost, administrative, and risk control over their contingent workers.

Managing Your Contingent Workforce. [Contingent Workforce Strategies] {PDF hosted by ContingentWorkforce.org}

Workforce Vision * Post: Bill Inman * Human Capital * Contingent Workforce * Globalism * Trends * Outsourcing

It's Time to Retire Retirement

"Long-standing human resources practices invest heavily in youth and push out older workers. This must change--and public policy, too--or companies will find themselves running off a demographic cliff as baby boomers age" (It's Time to Retire Retirement, Harvard Business Review).

This HBR article highlights the need for all types of companies to create a plan to battle the coming talent shortage. 60% of companies do not account for workforce aging in their business plans! Working with 'older' workers is a main tactic to beating this threat to competitiveness. Creating a culture that honors experience, offering flexible work and introducing flexible retirement will be critical to companies that want to remain competitive in their field.

It's Time to Retire Retirement. [Harvard Business Review - Ken Dychtwald, Tamara Erickson, Bob Morision]

Workforce Vision * Post: Bill Inman * Human Capital * Contingent Workforce * Globalism * Trends * Outsourcing