cover feature
GIG
CHANGES
AHEAD
THE CONTINGENT WORKFORCE
WILL BE A MAJOR PART OF YOUR HR
STRATEGY IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE.
ARE YOU READY?
By Melissa Campeau
If your organization hasn’t already added contingent workers to
its talent mix, it’s a safe bet it will be – in a big way – in the
very near future. According to staffing firm Randstad Canada,
non-traditional workers already make up 30 per cent of the
Canadian workforce, and they forecast that number will exceed
35 per cent by 2025.
It’s changing the nature of how HR managers think about, plan
for, recruit and engage the best talent. It’s even changing the way
businesses think about getting work done.
ALL WALKS, ALL AGES
The first thing to know about this quickly growing group of pro-fessionals
is that, by and large, they’re skilled professionals who are
intentionally choosing a non-traditional work model.
“This is the way many people want to work,” said Jeff Nugent,
managing director at Contingent Workforce Solutions. “Plenty of
workers find they can make more money, have more flexibility and
can choose the work they want to do.”
In fact, a recent study by ReportLinker found freelancers were
generally more optimistic and happier than traditional workers,
and 84 per cent of them said they are able to find a sense of pur-pose
by working in the gig economy.
The non-traditional workforce includes every generation, too.
Millennials, for example, with niche knowledge and a little in-office
experience under their belts, may decide to become their
HRPROFESSIONALNOW.CA ❚ MAY 2018 ❚ 19
