In 2024, managing a flexible workforce creatively and cost-effectively becomes increasingly important as economic uncertainty continues. News reports suggest that companies plan to rely more heavily on contract workers, freelancers and gig economy workers this year https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/careers/article-amid-an-uncertain-labour-market-firms-eye-contract-and-freelance/. However, managers have a broad ‘portfolio’ of flexible workforce options they can deploy. These include:
- Current employees who wish to reduce their hours or work on a project basis for family or other reasons
- Short-term contract employees hired by the company for specific projects
- Temp staff provided by agencies like AES
- Independent contractors, freelancers and gig economy workers
Each of these flexible workforce options has different goals, advantages and risks to be managed. Contract workers, for example, have different rights and obligations from employees, and their contracts and compensation mechanisms have to reflect this. https://www.bdc.ca/en/articles-tools/employees/recruit/are-your-workers-employees-or-independent-contractors
At AES, we work with clients to design and support the right ‘flexible workforce portfolio’ for their needs. In addition to our traditional temp staffing model, we source contract workers and freelancers for clients, and manage these contracts, invoices and payments to workers. We also recruit and manage contracts for short-term project workers that our clients hire on a ‘direct hire’ basis. If you’re hiring, or wondering whether to hire, make sure to think outside the box to consider the full range of flexible options that might work for you in these uncertain times.