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    Key Findings

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    • A workforce operating model shift is underway.

      Contingent labor is increasingly added to the talent mix to enable a recomposable workforce and find skills in demand.

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    • More changes are needed to enable business agility.

      Optimizing and managing the mix of FTEs and types of contingent labor used based on evolving business needs is challenging.

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    • Independent (self-employed) workers help improve workforce recomposability.

      This enables workforces to pivot on changing business needs, leading to competitive, cost, speed, and innovation improvements.

    OVERVIEW

    Leaders Are Not Viewing Workforce Management Strategically Enough

    MBO Partners commissioned Forrester Consulting to explore how leaders are addressing gaps between their organization's current workforce and the one that's needed to achieve their goals.

    Through our survey of 206 senior leaders in the US, we sought to understand how a strategic focus on talent sourcing can lead to operating model benefits.

    Contingent Labor Helps Enable Proactive Workforce Management And Skills Based Hiring

    Greater use of contingent labor in the talent mix is currently the most important strategy lever leaders are pulling to address talent scarcity, ahead of upskilling, sourcing more FTEs, and investing in automation.

    Using contingent labor is paramount for addressing workforce needs because it enables the creation of a recomposable talent mix, allowing leaders to deploy talent dynamically when and where skills are needed, along with providing greater access to current skills that are in short supply.

    Which of the following best describes how your organization thinks about its workforce today?

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    A collection of people in roles with certain job descriptions/requirements that have specified tasks

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    A collection of people with certain skills, experiences, and diversity that can be deployed dynamically to solve certain tasks and problems.

    Base: 206 US professional workers sourcing strategy decision-makers involved with contingent labor at their organizations.
    Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of MBO Partners, April 2024.

    Leaders Need To Think Differently In Order To Execute On A Workforce Strategy That Enables Business Agility

    Leaders expect contingent labor use to make up more than one third of their overall workforce in just two years - as a result of the flexibility and agility it provides organizations. However, simply injecting more contingent workers into the talent mix is not enough to improve business agility.

    Nearly nine out of ten leaders indicate there are more efficient ways for their organizations to manage the mix of FTEs and contingent labor they use today. As such, a greater focus on using the talent types best suited to meet specific business goals is needed - only then can leaders reap newfound benefits to their operating models, which remains out of reach for more than half of them currently.

    Which of the following best describes how your organization thinks about its workforce today?

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    53%

    My organization does not fully realize the potential benefits to its operating model as a result of focusing on optimization of our workforce.

    89%

    There are more efficient ways for my organization to manage both FTEs and the contingent labor we use today.

    Greater Independent Labor Use Can Make Organizations More Agile

    It's clear that leaders must strategically and proactively change their workforces to help meet business goals.

    Along with augmenting the ability to plan for and predict upcoming workforce changes and focusing

    on the skills and experiences needed to meet dynamically changing business conditions, increasing the use of independent labor within their organization's overall talent mix is a key component for improving workforce agility.

    What level of priority for your organization is each of the following strategies for integrating independent labor into long-term talent plans moving forward?

    Improving our ability to manage independent workers

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    Improving our ability to find independent workers

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    Improving our knowledge/expertise on how to
    legally classify Independent workers

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    Increasing use of independent labor can drastically impact our ability to fully optimize our workforce.

    Base: 206 US professional workers sourcing strategy decision-makers involved with contingent labor at their organizations.
    Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of MBO Partners, April 2024.

    Conclusion

    There is a significant opportunity for leaders to improve business agility by taking a more strategic approach to managing their workforce. Our research yielded two important conclusions:

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    • Leaders must think about workforce composition more strategically.

      As the talent market has become more constrained, organizations are moving beyond hiring the talent they need.

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    • The need to create a recomposable workforce demands attention from the c-suite.

      The ability to quickly pivot workforce structure based on business needs has become a competitive advantage.

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    Methodology

    This Opportunity Snapshot was commissioned by MBO Partners. To create this profile, Forrester Consulting conducted an online survey of 206 cross industry decision-makers responsible for their organization's talent sourcing and contingent labor strategies in the United States. Respondents were offered a small incentive as a thank you for time spent on the survey. The study began and was completed in April 2024.

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    About MBO Partners

    MBO Partners is a deep job platform that connects and enables independent professionals and microbusiness owners to do business safely and effectively with enterprise organizations. Its unmatched experience and industry leadership enable it to operate on the forefront of the independent economy and consistently advance the next way of working.

    For more information, visit mbopartners.com.

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