The State of Contract Talent Management and the Role of HR

21 January, 2009

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In the present employment scenario where, regardless of business cycles, the need for qualified and available talent is constant, organizations are often concerned less by cost and more with talent availability. This is true of both contract and traditional talent.

Our survey results demonstrate that employers are far more interested in locating contract talent with the skills and competencies they require than in saving money by utilizing contract talent instead of regular, full-time employees. In their pursuit of skilled workers and professionals, organizations are not particular about where they acquire their talent. While most of our respondents use staffing firms and consulting firms to access contractors, almost as many contract directly with the talent itself.

While staffing companies are still considered the preferred method for obtaining contract talent, many modern businesses are exploring ways of engaging contract workers directly (for example, without staffing intermediaries). This is made possible by the advent of the Internet and newer Web 2.0 tools and services, in which businesses have the means to find talented contract workers for some tasks and assignments as efficiently as staffing companies. Moreover, many of these tools and services also eliminate co-employment concerns by acting as the “employer of record” for the contract talent.

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