Last year, Ardent Partners predicted that the global business landscape would experience a sharp uptick in the utilization of non-employee labor as a direct result of the pandemic’s sweeping impact on business and human interaction. Going into 2020, 43.5% of the average organization’s total workforce was considered “contingent.” In 2021, that number sits at nearly 47% and there are strong indications that this percentage will grow as the transformation of talent and work continues forward.

Additionally, 82% of all businesses state that the challenging times of 2020 created a bigger need for extended and non-employee talent. The past 12 months have clearly revealed that workforce scalability is an essential link to economic survival in the now-chaotic, hyper-competitive world of global business. Operationalizing that scalability is the very root of workforce agility, from which businesses can tap into talent pools, marketplaces, clouds, and communities to enhance the work done by the trusted FTE workers, and a range of services and other recruitment streams to build, in real time, a dynamic response to a crucial enterprise initiative. The contingent workforce has become the foundation of workforce scalability, and rightfully so: businesses that survived 2020 and look forward to thriving in the second half of 2021 are actively harnessing the dynamic power of the agile workforce to get work done.

In its upcoming Future of Work Exchange Report for 2021 research study, we discovered that Best-in-Class organizations (top-performing enterprises based on a series of key workforce, quality, visibility, etc. metrics) are 32% more likely to tap into digital staffing outlets for talent acquisition needs. These solutions, which typically include talent marketplaces and talent communities/clouds, offer vetted and high-quality talent for either general positions or specific verticals (such as light industrial, engineering, graphic design, coding, etc.). These offerings are often considered enterprise-grade solutions that facilitate real-time and on-demand talent engagement with independent, freelance, or contract workers via a web-based network or portal.

Talent marketplaces typically offer “white-glove” or high-touch talent management services (akin to Managed Service Providers) to help their clients source the best-fit talent for their project requirements as well as the automation of core workforce management processes (such as requisition management, talent pool development, and back-end financial operations). The utilization of talent marketplaces and digital staffing outlets has increased by over 700% over the past six years, according to our research.

Ardent Partners recently published a definitive guide to the digital staffing and talent marketplace solutions arena, the 2021 Digital Staffing Marketplaces Technology Advisor. Click here to register and download your copy today. This new report will assist executives and professionals understand this evolving solutions landscape and help them find, engage, and source top-tier talent and skillsets.

Download your copy of this critical new research study, and feel free to reach out if you have any questions regarding the new report, the digital staffing technology landscape, how to find the best-fit talent marketplace for your organization, etc.