The New Normal: How Contract Workers are Reshaping the Workforce Landscape
According to Bloomberg, layoffs across the US technology industry have now claimed well over 300,000 jobs. Most economists foresee a slowdown in the economy occurring in the next year or two. However, ongoing consulting demand remains strong, most notably for compliance projects, restructurings, and Mergers & Acquisitions.
Companies continue to look to contract workers to upshift and downshift in an unstable economy. For those looking for full-time employment, it may seem harsh, but contract workers have helped many companies survive difficult times. The exact percentage of temporary or contract workers is difficult to gauge, but the number is rising. At some large companies, contract workers comprise anywhere from 20% – 50% of their staff. Economists believe that upwards of 20 million people in the U.S. are contract workers.
Contract workers are more than a passing trend. Contract workers are a growing and integral part of the nation’s workforce. It started out with companies needing flexibility in labor costs during difficult times. Now it has become the norm. Companies continue to search for the right balance between permanent and contract workers. However, even in a down economy, Upside Management Advisors expects businesses to rely on contract workers as a higher percentage of their workforce than in the past.
That said, companies and contract workers continue to struggle with this new normal. For companies who rely on contract workers to be flexible and accomplish many mission critical initiatives, our advice is not to take them for granted. In an improving economy, these workers will have more choices of where to go.
Executives that bring in consultants to support mission-critical projects cost thousands of dollars a day. This is a sizable financial investment. If it were the only cost involved in hiring the wrong consultant, that would be enough to motivate you to choose the right talent. However, what if this consultant doesn’t know what he or she is doing and, based on faulty information, you make decisions that lead your company astray?
The importance of matching the right consultants with relevant industry experience to a company’s job requirements is nothing new to Upside Management Advisors. Not only must consultants look competent on paper, but their references and work histories must match up. Most importantly, they must have a proven track record of success. This may seem obvious, but considering how often people are led astray by the wrong consulting hire, it doesn’t hurt to reiterate the obvious.
In a business advisory world, building relationships and attention to the bottom line go hand in hand. This isn’t an adverse thing; it’s simply called smart business. How you build these relationships separates a good advisor from an unreliable advisor. Good advisors should be experts in their fields. They persuade with their expertise, not with half-truths or misinformation. At heart, advisors are educators, and the most effective are those that really believe in and understand their products and the industries they serve. At Upside, our consultative approach coupled with a proven track record of working with, and guiding C-level executives' decision-making make us a trustworthy and dependable advisor to decision-makers across multiple industries. We embrace being advisors and this confidence and understanding of what we do has benefited us and our clients.
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