During my regularly scheduled industry analysis a couple weeks ago I
happened upon a blog
by Subadhra Sriram of Staffing Industry Analysts regarding the evolution of the
contingent worker over the past five years. Five years ago, people wondered
exactly what a contingent worker was. At that time, a supplemental workforce was composed of mostly temporary workers. The problem being temporary workers didn’t
like being called temps and rules and regulations regarding their
implementation on projects have changed. A contingent workforce no longer has
that stigma.
 |
| The line between contingent and full-time workers is blurring |
From a company perspective, there’s no question about the
difference. Companies can pay for the services of a contingent worker while
avoiding the associated overhead of taxes, benefits, and long term
responsibility for their development. Pay a firm for their workers until the
project is complete or the planned ramp up in production has ended. Another
benefit to companies is something I like to call “at-will times two.”
If you don’t like the way your project is headed, you can
get a whole new team to work on it without all of paperwork and negotiation
that comes with letting full-time company workers go. If you’re a company
looking for just-in-time delivery on a project, what could be better?
From the worker perspective, the answer to the any difference
question would likely be “no.” Workers see and read about companies where
shareholders all too often only care about the bottom line and how letting go
of 700 employees here and 1,500 there makes the company much more attractive to
investors.
Our at-will employment society has non-competes as the norm and
the concept of job security means that there are physical guards in the
building to prevent a worker from harming others when terminated. It
doesn’t matter if you are 1099, temporary, contingent or full time; you have
right around the same chance of getting fired.
Is this an extreme example?
Sure it is.
Are all companies like this now?
The simple answer is again to the contrary. There are
companies who value engaged contingent workers and full-time employees alike.
They work side-by-side with one another and do their jobs with enthusiasm.
Employers often treat them as equals unlike the temporary workers of years past.
The more complex answer is, “Not yet.” Just as with most
things with financial benefit to companies (pensions anyone), the cutting and
attitude changes start on the fringes and work their way to the norm. It
won’t be long before there is no difference, other than how you file your taxes,
in the different kinds of workers companies employ.
That’s not to say there isn’t a need for a strong leadership
core in your company or that one of your contingent workers might indeed be
that next company all-star. It’s almost a try before you buy scenario; yet
another benefit to the use of a contingent workforce.
Don’t get me wrong. I am in the very business of helping
companies develop their contingent project teams. The same could be said for contingent workers
themselves. They get to test drive a company before committing to a full-time
job if the possibility presents itself. They’re not locked into the expected
loyalties associated with full-time work. They can leave at the project’s end
without the job hopper stigma a full-time worker faces when the fit isn’t
right. For some workers, the contingent
lifestyle and frequent projects changes put them in the catbird seat.
In IT, a contingent workforce is commonplace. These professionals
often complete a project and already have their next assignment waiting for
them when they finish. Those working on the latest and greatest projects do
very well. These professionals aren’t being paid the temporary wages of
yesteryear either; they are in high demand because of their skill sets and
flexibility. Projects can range from a few months to a few years, but hardly
the 20 or 30 years of the traditional full-time worker. In fact, the recession
and the marketplace seem to have eroded the very thought of getting your
25-year gold lapel pin and plaque at the annual company dinner.
Portable health insurance, long term unemployment payments,
the ease that the internet provides in setting up a new business selling
widgets or services, and the mindset of today’s worker where the days of being
a company guy or gal are for the most part long gone; they all add up to
contingent workers actually becoming the norm. Traditional full-time workers are
seemingly being relegated to a distant memory.
Remember when a pilot would come out of the cockpit and give
wings to the kids on the plane? Remember when a gas station attendant would
actually check your oil and clean your windows AND smile (or when there was an
attendant for that matter)? Remember when the worker cared about the company
they worked for?
While there are pros and cons for both companies
and contingent workers; it seems that worker empathy for the mission, value and
culture of the company may be headed in the same direction the more the lines
between full-time and contingent work are blurred.
