Workforce Trends

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Job Security Is Evaporating. Now What? 

By Thomas Lutrell

A person’s employment over multiple decades is a thing of the past. The notion of a gold-watch retirement has entered the realm of myth—to anyone in the younger generations of the workforce, such a thing borders on unbelievable. Instead, workforce cutbacks and layoffs have become almost commonplace.   The Employed Entrepreneur While a steady paycheck, benefits,…

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“Tethered Nomadism” – Unintended Consequences of Return to Office Mandates

By Rowena Hennigan

In the wake of a global shift towards remote work, a once-niche lifestyle choice gained mass appeal: digital nomadism. Offices were vacated in favor of makeshift desks in living rooms, beachside resorts, or highland mountain retreats, proving that for many, work was no longer a place but a task that could be performed from any…

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9 Ways to Include AI in Your Workforce

By MBO Partners

Workforce optimization—establishing a strategic mix of employees and contractors—will likely be redefined in the next few years. With AI coming on the scene in a big way, speculations swirl in the business community about how it will change the way work is done. Will it cause jobs to be lost as it takes on roles…

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In-Demand Skill Sets for Today’s Workforce

By MBO Partners

As the business world enters a new digital reality dominated by AI, the skills needed in the workforce are changing. As a result, skills that were once nice to have or useful in special circumstances are in ever-higher demand. Soft Skills Become Power Skills In the past, enterprises considered roles in the context of “technical…

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4 Long-Term Trends Driving the Growth of the Independent Workforce

By MBO Partners

Over the past year, both supply and demand for independent workers increased. MBO Partners’ latest State of Independence Study found that 72.1 million Americans reported working independently in 2023. A tight labor market and demand for workers with specialized skills led more organizations to rely on independent talent to fill skill gaps. Together, this increased…

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5 Things to Know About the Modern Independent Worker

By MBO Partners

MBO Partners’ 2023 State of Independence report found that there have never been more people working independently—more than 72 million Americans reported working as part-time, occasional, or full-time independents. There is a growing demand for independent talent, who are well-positioned to provide companies with flexible, on-demand expertise. And as more people see independent work as…

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Navigating the Shifting Landscape of Contingent Labor: A Strategic Approach to Direct Sourcing 

By Alex Khouri

In a labor market characterized by scarcity and dynamic shifts, the statistics speak volumes about the evolving nature of the workforce. As of October, there were 9.6 million open jobs, significantly outnumbering the 6.5 million job seekers (October BLS Report). This staggering gap emphasizes the ongoing challenge of talent acquisition, pushing organizations to explore innovative…

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Seasoned Workers and the Encore Career

By MBO Partners

Forty-eight percent of U.S. independent professionals are either Baby Boomers (19%) or Gen X (29%). It is likely that many of these, especially in the Boomer cohort, are pursuing encore careers as independent professionals. These workers can make valuable contributions to the companies they work with. What Is an Encore Career? An encore career is…

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Is It Time to Rethink Independent Talent in Your Enterprise?

By MBO Partners

“There have never been more payroll jobs in the U.S. There have also never been more people working independently.” 2023 State of Independence Report Those two statements may seem paradoxical, but they are both true. The U.S. independent talent population has grown steadily year on year—from 2020 to 2023 alone it jumped by 89%. Even…

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Put the Future of Work in Your 2024 Plan

By MBO Partners

The future is always on the business radar—for example, the economic future, the market future, the regulatory future. But the idea of forecasting the future in the context of work and how it gets done—what we’re calling the “future of work”—is new. The model of a predominantly onsite 40-hour work week has been in place…

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