Enterprises and HR executives who are not at least exploring the possibilities of AI’s impact on CWM will find themselves at a competitive disadvantage when sourcing talent and executing extended workforce strategies. Beeline stated that the “effects of AI in extended workforce management are just beginning and can be seen shaping how jobs are described, how candidates are evaluated, and how contracts are written. AI will soon be employed for more strategic outcomes like workforce planning, workforce optimization, and total workforce management.”

AI Paves Several Paths for CWM 

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A little over a decade ago, when enterprise software giant SAP acquired Fieldglass (a VMS pioneer), I was quoted as saying, “By 2020, half of the global workforce will be considered “contingent” or “external.” At that point, upwards of a third (33%-to-34% and growing) of the workforce was considered external. From 2015 to the early weeks of 2020, we were getting closer and closer to that 50% threshold…and then something happened that sparked another spark in contingent workforce growth.

The COVID-19 pandemic was, of course, a watershed moment in both human and business history; it was a global health crisis that sparked an economic crisis that sparked Future of Work accelerants that we all leverage today five years later (like remote and hybrid work, for instance). During the hardest, earliest months of the pandemic, businesses needed to scale up or scale down their workforces based on fluctuating conditions; when cases were down and demand for products/services returned, hiring managers and talent leaders shored up the workforce with contingent labor. When demand waned (especially during the very difficult 2020-2021 winter), it was easier to scale down with a temporary workforce.

It was well before this, though, that the VMS platform more than proved its worth for a simple reason: the external workforce kept growing. No other solutions (technology, that is) were as well-fit and aligned with managing this growth like Vendor Management Systems.

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Think soft skills are only a recent workforce concentration? Not quite. In 1918, the Carnegie Foundation published Charles Riborg Mann’s A Study of Engineering Education, which cited that 85% of a person’s job success is a product of soft skills and that only 15% of success is based on technical knowledge. Even more than 100 years ago, the criticality of workplace soft skills was being emphasized. However, the pandemic helped bring soft skills into sharper focus as other Future of Work elements (e.g., flexibility, remote work, empathetic leadership) became mainstream concepts and areas of importance.

Now with artificial intelligence leading the way in technology utilization, enterprises have an opportunity to leverage AI for greater workforce enablement — particularly around soft skills.

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The big game offers a unique, Future of Work-oriented lens for business insights, transforming the world’s biggest sport evening into a masterclass of strategic planning, leadership dynamics, and operational innovation.

So, some business lessons from Super Bowl LIX:

• Homegrown talent is still critical to enterprise objectives. The Super Bowl MVP, Jalen Hurts, was drafted in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Landon Dickerson and Cam Jurgens comprise 80% of the Eagles’ stout offensive line that was drafted…

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Upskilling is akin to learning new skills to better perform your job — not to be confused with reskilling, which is investing in skills for a different job. This leads to a key question: How critical is upskilling? According to the World Economic Forum, the U.S. could add $800 billion to its GDP by 2030 through upskilling efforts alone. Artificial intelligence can help execute upskilling initiatives and deliver on those economic estimates.

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I’ve been in the contingent workforce and HR tech space for nearly 20 years.

Now, like most of the folks in our amazing industry, I got here by accident. While I love the CWM space and the many, many friends I’ve made along the way, I didn’t set out to be an in analyst in this arena when I was college. (No, I aspired to be a journalist, a conversation for another day…)

So, I say this seeing so many market-shifting events, including the “perfect storm” of the contingent workforce’s growth spike in 2008-2009, a “reawakening” during the pandemic, and today’s AI-driven, skills-based hiring arena:

The CW programs of today aren’t built for tomorrow….

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thods within extended workforce management.

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As businesses face the challenges of a fast-evolving workforce landscape, the intersection of innovation in technology and diversity initiatives has become a critical area of focus. My conversation with Brad shed light on key trends shaping the future of workforce management, from cutting-edge tech stacks to achieving meaningful diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals.

Innovating Talent Technology: The Rise of Specialized Tech Stacks

Today’s talent technology stacks have an increasing role in driving efficiency and agility for businesses. The tools available today, such as direct sourcing platforms, artificial intelligence, and compliance technologies, have surpassed those of just five or six years ago. These advancements allow companies to manage their workforce more comprehensively, extending beyond traditional staffing to include freelancers, contractors, and other non-employee talent.

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There are several phrases that send our industry into huffy-puffy overdrive and cause undue stress. However, no concept, idea, phrase, or whatever draws more scrutiny and frustration than “total talent management.”

Way back in 2012 (which seems like forever ago), I co-authored the industry’s very first paper on total talent management. Back then, with wide eyes and a dreamy attitude, I concluded that “total talent management should not just be a pipe dream for enterprises, but rather an accepted future state that will eventually become the foundation of all recruitment and talent acquisition strategies.”

Yeah, that “eventually” in there…let’s ignore it for a second.

Back then, the extended workforce comprised, on average, 25% of the average company’s total talent pool. Back then, solutions like RPO, MSP, VMS, etc. weren’t evolving or innovating as quickly as they are today. And, back then, we weren’t awash in new and exciting talent acquisition strategies (like skills-based hiring) that are representative of the changing times of a post-pandemic labor market.

So, flash-forward to 2025.

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When it comes to workforce personalities, most workers identify as an extrovert or introvert. And while many people assume extroverts are the majority, data from The Myers-Briggs Company indicates that introverts account for 57% of the global population. This is significant for a few reasons. First, more of our work colleagues are introverts than we probably realize. Second, it brings into question how enterprise communication and collaboration occur and whether those methods benefit or hinder introversion. Third, a remote or hybrid work model could encourage a healthier, more productive workforce — as well as promote DE&I efforts.

Understand the Introvert Workplace Dynamic

The COVID-19 pandemic propelled introverts into a remote work environment that catered to their professional strengths and preferences. Overnight, introverts were working out of their own homes and communicating extensively through chat and video — no longer facing large, in-person group projects and meetings. Many introverts welcomed the independence and empowerment that also came with remote work. Like a Freaky Friday moment, suddenly extroverts lacked dominance within the new solitary, virtual environment.

Today, as some companies pivot away from remote work models, it’s critical to understand how introverts navigate the workplace dynamic. The term “introvert” is often associated with inaccurate characteristics and conditions. For example, an introvert is not someone who:

• Cannot collaborate with colleagues.
• Suffers from shyness or social anxiety.
• Fears verbal communication.
• Wants to be left alone.
• Is unable to think strategically.

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The Future of Work is human.

While it’s hard to believe that we are nearly five years (five years!) removed from the beginnings of the biggest health crisis of our collective lifetimes, the fact remains that the ramifications, both personally and professionally, of the COVID-19 pandemic affected all of us as humans in a deeply profound way…a way that sticks with us even in these early weeks of 2025.

When life (and business) returned to “normal” in late 2021/early 2022 (depending on when you would define “normalcy,” right?), many business leaders and their teams kept that sheen of humanity in how they managed and how they worked, choosing to embrace empathy, diversity, inclusion, equitable treatment, emotional intelligence, and other human-led factors that wore woven into the very fabric and dynamics of “work.”

Somewhere between now and then, though, these amazing attributes began to fade for too many enterprises. Remote and hybrid work, perhaps the most famous of all non-technological Future of Work ideals and probably the centerpiece of the movement’s rapid acceleration during the pandemic, started a rift between workers and executives, who, respectively, yearned for continued flexibility and its rigid counterpart of return-to-office (RTO) mandates (which dismiss the proven benefits of remote and hybrid arrangements that supported and continue to support work-life integration).

Today, within the throes of a brand-new political administration in the United States, some large and household brands are publicly walking back DE&I initiatives in the same way many executives pared back flexible work options. These DE&I initiatives, once central to corporate strategy, have been scaled back significantly, with diversity hiring targets relaxed and inclusion programs receiving reduced funding and attention.

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