Role of Contingent Workers in Workforce Strategy

UK Employers Comment on Contingent Workers - 08 December 2009

Manpower surveyed more than 41,000 employers in 35 countries and territories to learn more about the current role of contingent workers in workforce strategy among organisations. For the purpose of this survey, we define “contingent workers” as the non-permanent members of an organisation’s workforce, such as consultants, contractors (generally higher skilled speciality roles), outsourced workers and temporary employees (generally lower skilled general roles).

The results reveal that the majority of employers in the UK do not view contingent workers as being key to their organisation’s workforce strategy. In fact, 78% of UK employers said that this segment of their workforce was not an important element of their overall strategy.  Manpower believes that over time, as companies emerge from this recession and ultimately recover, contingent workers will play an ever more important strategic role in employers’ workforce strategy. Yet our findings suggest that organisations could do more to ensure that their contingent employees perform at the highest levels.

UK Results

Of the more than 2,100 employers surveyed in the UK, 78% of employers said they did not view contingent workers as a key element of their workforce strategy. On the other hand, 21% did view this segment of their workforce as key; 1% were unsure. A comparison of the regions across the UK reveals that employers in Northern Ireland (34%) view contingent workers as a key element of their workforce strategy. In contrast, employers in Yorkshire & Humberside hold a less strategic view (8%). Of the 11 industry sectors surveyed, employers in the Restaurants & Hotels sector (40%) most often consider non-permanent workers as key to their strategy. On the other hand, Finance & Business Services sector employers (84%) were least likely to recognise contingent workers as a crucial element.

Use the 'Download' option opposite to read the report in full.