The majority of human resources managers, 62%, use some sort of flexible talent — freelancers, temporary and agency workers — according to data released today by online staffing provider Upwork. And 79% expect their departments to utilize as many or more freelancers in 2017.
The data is a specific cut of results from human resources respondents to Upwork’s Future Workforce Report, which explores US business hiring and today’s workforce composition.
Why Flexible Talent is Working
Human resources managers’ top reasons for hiring flexible workers were to help scale to meet project needs, cited by 60% of survey respondents, and to find skills not currently available in-house, cited by 54%.
“The workforce is changing rapidly,” said Zoe Harte, Upwork’s VP of HR and talent innovation. “HR is under increasing pressure from business leaders to constantly realign talent strategies with evolving business objectives. Now is the time for HR to use its seat at the table to be a driver of innovation and change. By strategically leveraging freelancers, temp and agency workers to increase capacity and fill critical skills gaps, HR is powering businesses to expand and grow into new markets.”
Highlights from the report include:
Freelancers are faster to contribute: It takes human resources managers less than half the time to find a freelancer and have them start contributing as compared to an employee. On average, freelancers start contributing in 12 days versus 29 days for traditional employees.
Freelancers help companies get more done: Seventy-three percent of HR managers said utilizing freelancers helped them get more done, while 56% said freelancers helped them quickly and efficiently scale to support project demands. Freelancers help companies grow and create opportunities that would otherwise not exist. In fact, if they had been unable to hire a freelancer, 84% of hiring managers said they would have been forced to delay, cancel or extend project workloads.
Human resources adoption of freelancers will increase: Human resources managers are incorporating freelancers into their strategic plans as they realize the value of alternative work arrangements in addressing business objectives. Seventy-nine percent of HR managers expect their department to utilize as many or more freelancers in 2017. The adoption of freelancers is poised to increase as HR strives to create the best teams for the future. The majority of HR managers, 54%, believe that freelancing will continue to increase.
Thank you to Staffing Industry Analyst post 5/12/17: The study is based on an online survey conducted by independent research firm Inavero. The survey included 1,004 workforce hiring decision makers, including more than 200 human resources managers, and was conducted from Dec. 1 to Dec. 10, 2016.