Gig workers & freelancers are all companies can think of given the present state of the ecosystem making contingent workforce the center of attraction.
The job market, though unstable as it has been in recent times, has never completely depleted. There has always been a rise in some arenas even when others witness a downfall. Speaking of which, the pandemic put organizations in a situation where a lot of them assents that they were thrown off from the position of being able to afford all of their salaried employees, leading to a ton of workforce losing jobs. Now, the companies had two options, first: either shut down their businesses entirely as there are not enough people to perform the tasks or, second: hire people on a short-term basis to keep the ship sailing, even if barely. Going with the second choice meant that they could keep the operations going without having to commit payroll and recurring wages by hiring contingent workers or freelancers.
Contingent workers are defined by the US Department of Labor as “independent contractors”. They work for the said organization on a temporary basis, for a stipulated period of time and move on to other projects without having any strings attached. Organizations previously weren’t very welcoming to freelancers, but today contingent workers hold the same regard as a salaried employee, if not more.
Leading companies are also realizing the vitality and necessity of having simple solutions that would allow firms to hire external workers with ease and synchronicity. SAP SE launched SAP Fieldglass, a product to hire temporary workers at speed, and offered it to businesses free of cost until the end of the year 2020. This solution enables employers to get in touch with vetted temp talent almost immediately and get going on the tasks at hand. The fact that organizations are embracing and promoting the idea of placing external talent internally is a testament to the bright future of this sector.
The present ecosystem is extremely dynamic and diverse in terms of systems and solutions. The existing solutions are building up their tech stack by adding a variety of distinct attributes and features. Industry players are thriving on building end-to-end HR Solutions so that their customers do not look elsewhere. Nowadays there are products present in the marketplace that offer a conspicuous firewall between compliance and management of the contingent workforce. One such solution, Upwork, recently upgraded its enterprise capabilities to expand the horizons for recruiting contingent workforce across the globe while complying with all the regulations and making WFH more efficient. The new upgrades make it possible for companies to identify and onboard freelancers with minimum administrative days in the picture along with supporting payroll in more than 160 countries.
As important it is for companies to attract gig workers, it also equally imperative for freelancers to establish themselves as a brand and expand their workscape. This is why the leading freelance services marketplace, Fiverr, came up with a new product, called “Promoted Gigs” that gives gig workers the ability to promote their services by advertising them and find a way to accelerate their earnings. This product is quite divergent from the other freelance tools in the market as it presents the external talent with an opportunity to tout their effectiveness.
According to CWS, 53 million people took on Gig Work in the US last year. There is no doubt that this landscape is vast, and the pandemic has only garnished it! It is expected and hoped that there will be a continued expression of regard for the placement and management of contingent workforce at an increased level.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chandrima Samanta
Content-Editor at HrTech Cube
Chandrima is a Content management executive with a flair for creating high quality content irrespective of genre. She believes in crafting stories irrespective of genre and bringing them to a creative form. Prior to working for MartechCube she was a Business Analyst with Capgemini.
