Talent Revolution Archives - The Future of Work Exchange

The Extended Workforce Continues to Drive Value

Talent by Christopher J. Dwyer on 02/25/2025

The Future of Work is many things: technology, transformation, work optimization, innovation, collaboration, and, of course, talent. Depending on who you’re talking to, the Future of Work movement’s nexus could be defined as any of those previous attributes, and rightfully so: technology and innovation drive the optimization of how work is done, while the transformation of business leadership translates into an enhanced ability to retain top talent while attracting new skillsets and expertise.

The extended workforce has long been a critical realm within the concept of the Future of Work, fueling a strategic approach towards talent management that has a variety of key benefits ranging from shorter-term engagement, more focused projects and initiatives, access to the world’s deepest skillsets, and the traditional cost savings that have long been associated with this type of labor.

And, speaking of the “traditional” aspects of the extended workforce: the Future of Work Exchange defines this talent as the natural evolution of the contingent workforce, meaning that, at its core, this workforce is still comprised of non-employee talent, however, its impact, value, flexibility, purpose, and accessibility have all progressed to become key elements of the Future of Work movement (even more so than ever before).

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The Next Great Era of the Hybrid Workplace

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on 05/20/2024

“We’re not putting that genie back in the bottle” is a phrase I’ve used at least two or three dozen times over the past few months whenever I’m asked about the realm of remote and hybrid work and how return-to-office (RTO) mandates are impacting these attributes. No matter how the economy shifts and no matter how far the pendulum swings back in favor of the employer, the phrase will always be true.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a watershed moment for humanity. And it was also a turning point in the business world.

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AI in Talent Acquisition Coming into Its Own

Business Leadership Contingent Workforce General Insights HR Solution Providers Talent Talent Acquisition Technology and Innovation by John Yuva on 04/22/2024

Artificial intelligence (AI) is omnipresent, impacting all businesses and industries. However, where AI is showing immense potential is in the greater world of work and talent — specifically, talent acquisition. Few technologies in history can affect everyone, but AI’s capabilities are doing just that whether you’re an HR leader, recruiter, business manager, employee, or job candidate. AI brings revolutionary and transformative change to the Future of Work. A rising tide of enrichment is here and here to stay.

Research from Ardent Partners and the Future of Work Exchange reveals that 80% of businesses expect to begin or increase their utilization of AI tools and technology through 2024. A staggering statistic. Thus, within the next four to six months, the vast majority of enterprises will be utilizing AI technology.

The Rising Tide of AI in Talent Acquisition

The impact of AI on business and its growing influence on talent acquisition was the topic of discussion during a recent Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange webinar featuring special guest Opptly, titled “The Rising Tide of AI in Talent Acquisition.”

Speakers Christopher Dwyer, managing director of Future of Work Exchange; Opptly’s Lori Hock, CEO, and Rebecca Valladares, head of operations, addressed how AI is changing the talent acquisition landscape. Dwyer shared that within the next 18 months, 74% of enterprises plan to leverage AI to improve the candidate experience. This is a sign of how much AI will play a critical role in attracting job candidates in the near future.

The following includes several key points shared during the webinar that show AI is not only here, but here to stay.

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Candidate-Centricity Should Be the Nexus of 2023 Hiring

HR Talent Talent Acquisition by Christopher J. Dwyer on 01/30/2023

Sometimes it can be incredibly taxing on our minds to configure the many, many ways the Future of Work influences the way we live, the way we work, and the ways those two intersect. From new technology and innovative platforms to conscious leadership and overall business transformation, the very notion of the “future of how we work” involves so many intricacies that it can make our collective heads spin.

However, in a vacuum, we have to look at the future (and, in this case, the very near future) and configure specific aspects of corporate operations in such a way that they align with the external forces now driving success…or failure.

Talent has become the top competitive differentiator in a market that is increasingly globalized, unpredictable, and disruptive. Businesses that source the best talent, utilize that talent to get work done effectively, and retain that talent are always going to be the ones that thrive in a business arena that is evolving at a breakneck clip.

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BEST OF 2022: “Perceptive Hiring” is the Future of Work

Talent by Christopher J. Dwyer on 12/28/2022

[The Future of Work Exchange will be back next week with all-new content and insights to kick off the new year. Until then, enjoy our “Best Of” series that revisits some of our most-read articles from 2022.]

The world of talent will never be the same. Entering Year Three of a pandemic that has transformed the way we all think about both business and our personal lives, the average enterprise cannot leverage what are now archaic means of hiring to find the necessary skillsets and expertise to thrive in an increasingly globalized corporate arena.

The Great Resignation continues unabated. The Talent Revolution is at hand, with workers across the world becoming more aware of their desire for flexibility, empathy, and purpose. Although unemployment is at a near-53-year low, businesses are finding it harder than ever to fill both tactical and strategic roles.

The hard truth we face as business leaders is this: it doesn’t matter how much we increase compensation or how many additional perks are bult into job offers. Workers today need more than “smart hiring” strategies for reachout, engagement, and negotiations. Those attributes that were mentioned above (flexibility, empathy, and purpose) are not going to be streamlined within what we call smart hiring.

We need more…so much more.

Enterprises today are flush with data and information. This is a critical, “table stakes” aspect of the new world of work, as the ability to harness powerful data from VMS, ATS, CRM, HRIS, direct sourcing, and other platform sources enable hiring managers and other business leaders with “smarter” talent engagement and talent acquisition capabilities. Advanced technology today provides executives with the necessary intelligence to understand who the best candidate may be for a particular role and project (by analyzing work history, expertise, skillsets, certifications, etc.), augmenting with additional data (such as diversity information) to present an ideal professional that should be hired.

In essence, this has always been a goal of “total talent management,” in which the very realm of total talent intelligence (gleaned from both contingent and FTE workforce management systems) assists hiring managers to make quicker decisions based on the knowledge of the company’s overall talent pool.

The above aspects (total talent, diversity, skillsets, expertise, etc.) are all complementary pieces to the new era of workforce engagement. Businesses frankly cannot survive in a truly disruptive labor market without these modes of talent intelligence, given that staffing shortages have become an unfortunate norm.

However, back to the point above about “needing more”: if we think about how far we’ve come in regards to splicing data into talent engagement, how innovative artificial intelligence and machine learning have come, and just how advanced our workforce management software systems are, it’s pretty incredible to think that we don’t have to spend days analyzing resumes and pontificating about the qualities of dozens of candidates for a single job. All of that work has been automated and augmented (the Future of Work, right?). If we could just take that a step further, take those processes and embed even more data and insights…what would happen?

We’d transform “smart hiring” into “perceptive hiring,” in which more than just workforce history, skillsets, and expertise factor into a candidate being matched to a job or position. There are so many factors that play into the human elements of today’s business professionals, including their soft skills, workplace preferences, culture, and other elements of candidates as people and not just profiles on a screen.

How can we ensure that 1) the candidate will adapt and/or evolve to the enterprise’s culture, or, 2) that the business is a great cultural fit for the candidate? It’s not a one-way street anymore; we’re in the middle of a Talent Revolution that has resulted in workers becoming the gatekeepers to their own professional futures. We’d perceive more from the candidates and their personas beyond the traditional measures of hiring. We need to continue thinking about the best possible ways to find and retain key talent, especially in the face of The Great Resignation, however, we should also want our workforce to be a product of, well, more.

Four-plus million people have been voluntarily leaving their jobs since October of last year…and it’s not just a compensation issue. Workers are humans, and humans can suffer from burnout, anxiety, and a lack of engagement with positions that don’t satisfy a larger purpose. The pandemic and its fallout changed many of us, changed the way we think, operate, and, most importantly, speculate about the future. Candidates want more than a well-paying gig…they want work with a purpose that satisfies something deeper.

If we could leverage AI, next-gen analytics, and new innovations to spark a deeper perception of candidates, we would have the ability to solve talent retention issues and ensure that the workforce was tethered to a workplace culture (as well as the work itself) that met these necessities. This profound perception of candidates, linked to the smart hiring strategies and technology we have today, will become a way to develop and foster a strong, engaged workforce in the face of evolving times.

In essence, perceptive hiring is not “this worker is the ideal fit for this role,” but rather “this person is the ideal fit for this role.”

Flexibility Shouldn’t Go Backwards

Business Leadership HR Talent by Christopher J. Dwyer on 11/28/2022

Take a trip back to a moment in time with me. It’s around this time last year, and you may be in the grocery store, at the mall, or catching the last few hours of Black Friday sales. Facial coverings aren’t as prevalent as they were a year prior, an era before COVID vaccines, treatments, etc., however, many people still feel more comfortable wearing masks in any public setting.

It’s sometimes hard to believe that we’re well over two-and-a-half years removed from the first days of the COVID-19 pandemic. For many of us, we can still close our eyes and recall the anxiety, the worry, and just how uneasy everything felt.

Of course, in late 2022 now, we can look back on the scariest of those times and point to them as a dawn of a new era of work, talent, and business. Future of Work accelerants were already well in play when the country (and world, for that matter) began to “shut down,” however, it was the pandemic’s quick impact that kicked many of those concepts into high gear.

Perhaps the biggest Future of Work accelerant to arise was the global notion of flexibility. With newfound measures to keep in-person contact to an absolutely minimum, those businesses that once eschewed remote work were now forced to allow their employees and contractors to telecommute and work virtually. Those enterprises that had long embraced these work models, on the other hand, found it easier to survive in chaotic times.

The first rumblings of “return to office” planning occurred at the beginning of 2021 when the United States government rolled out the biggest vaccine campaign in medical history. Many executive leaders were eager to “get back to normal” and began the process of shifting from remote-heavy environments to hybrid workplaces.

While these blended models were ideal for balancing proximity collaboration and in-person coordination with the many advantages of the remote work environment, some leaders took encouraging virus occurrences (such as lower case rates, enhanced uptake of vaccines, etc.) as a sign that the global workforce was ready to the office full-time.

As we discussed here on the Future of Work Exchange oh so many months ago, that very notion of flexibility wasn’t a fad, nor was it a temporary state of workplace thinking. The move towards enterprise flexibility was a permanent one that could not be reneged, renegotiated, or scaled back in any profound way. One of the positive outcomes regarding the workforce over the past two years was hidden under the guise of The Great Resignation; people weren’t just quitting their jobs…they were sparking a talent revolution.

In 2022, and certainly even more so in 2023, workers demand better working conditions, enhanced benefits, empathy-led mentorship and leadership, and, most importantly, flexibility. This concept of flexibility doesn’t just translate into allowing professionals to sometimes work from home or build in specific remote days around in-person office days. No, flexibility is so much more than that, and, until executive leaders understand that flexibility is a path forward that cannot be reversed, there will continue to be staffing shortages, dearths of expertise, a lack of effective skillsets, etc.

Those leaders that are clamoring for a full return-to-office plan in January (or even sooner, if you’ve purchased a social media giant and want to destroy its culture) are banking on economic uncertainty to re-balance the scales with the workforce-at-large. However, with nearly two job openings for every available candidate in today’s market (a fluctuating number based on fluid conditions), there won’t be a labor market crunch anytime soon. So, in essence, flexibility is an attribute that every worker will want now and forever, leaving business leaders in a position in which the culture of its workplace becomes ever-so-critical when engaging the top-tier talent they need to thrive.

Workplace culture cannot be forced. And this is why the realm of flexibility is so critical to enterprise success today and in the future. Enterprises that preach and practice flexible workplace conditions have embraced the transformation of work; the idea of flexibility, then, can’t be jammed back into its bottle. Workers have realized that flexibility is what they want, desire, and require…and there’s no turning back from that.

Candidate-Centricity Should Be the Nexus of 2023 Hiring

HR Talent Talent Acquisition by Christopher J. Dwyer on 11/17/2022

We’ve witnessed (and, more importantly, experienced) the highs and lows of talent engagement, hiring, and talent acquisition over the past two-plus years: pandemic-led layoffs, the rise of workforce agility, The Great Resignation, The Great Resettling, quiet quitting, quiet firing, and worker empowerment. It’s surely been a roller-coaster for talent acquisition execs, hiring managers, HR leaders, and other executives that hold some responsibility for workforce management within the typical organization.

At the end of the day, however, all of these talent-led transformations lead to one conclusion that should form the foundation of talent acquisition strategies in 2023: a candidate-centric model is the best path forward, considering the risks of an economic recession, continued global disruptions from war and supply chain issues, and, critically, the ramifications of the “talent revolution” that businesses have experienced since March 2020.

There are many reasons why running a candidate-centric hiring model makes sense in the year ahead:

Workers are done with being overpowered by their managers and employers when it comes to poor working conditions and a lack of appreciation.
Talented professionals have undergone a mental transformation during pandemic times that have forced them to reevaluate the impact of “work” and “career paths” on their personal lives as humans, leading to a desire for more purposeful work.
Workers desire true flexibility, not just a free weekly lunch or a ping-pong table in the break room. The flexibility for personal care, child care, elder care, etc. is all-important in today’s workforce; professionals crave the ability to attend their children’s’ events or harness the real power of remote and hybrid work to ensure that they have a proper work-life integration.
Candidates have more choices than ever before, regardless of the state of today’s economy. Businesses must stand out from the pack and offer a truly emotionally-engaging experience for their potential workers that leaves a real impression; will candidates gain a sense of trust, as well as an understanding of workplace and corporate culture?
Building on the above attribute, candidates desire a seamless and frictionless experience when applying for a job, negotiating terms, and following through the onboarding process. These may seem like more tactical aspects than strategic, but they go a long way towards developing a positive candidate experience for potential workers.

There’s more to developing a talent-oriented hiring strategy than just being committed to the candidate; enterprises must look to the aspects above and understand that, in a volatile labor market, they need to do so much more than they have ever done before to attract the best-fit, top-tier talent, skillsets, and expertise. The candidate experience is paramount and candidate-centricity hiring models are essential to thriving in 2023.

Upwork’s “Work Without Limits” Conference: Thriving in a New World of Work

Events Solution Providers Technology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on 09/26/2022

“The world of work is changing faster than ever before,” said Upwork Chief Sales Officer Eric Gilpin at the start of the talent platform’s annual “Work Without Limits” summit in Chicago. Gilpin’s opening thoughts echo the evolution of work and talent over the past two-plus years, as Future of Work-era accelerants (and the desire to truly optimize how work is done) rapidly shape the way businesses around the globe operate.

*Eric Gilpin, Upwork’s Chief Sales Officer, kicks off the 2022 Work Without Limits event. (Photo credit: Upwork)*

Hayden Brown, President and CEO of Upwork, kicked off the conference reminiscing about what it was like when she finally made it to the corner office and when she got an office with a door for the first time in her career. Today, Hayden says, “Every employee can have their own corner office.” There are after all, new rules for work.

One of the major benefits of this new world of work is that control has been democratized. How, where, and even when people complete their work is in more of their control, and this is a huge benefit to all businesses, said Brown. She challenges the notion that the traditional workplace was what drove success, arguing that this misplaced nostalgia is actually caused by the Mandela effect, where false memories can sometimes be shared by multiple people. “The office was not the secret sauce [of business],” says Brown, and “It is time for business leaders to lead instead of react,” and find the true drivers of business value.

*Hayden Brown, Upwork’s President and CEO, discusses the new rules of work. (Photo credit: Upwork)*

Brown continued her keynote by asking a few challenging questions for business leaders – “Will a location mandate get you the results you want?” and “Are you giving your team the what they need to succeed – the best tools and the best talent?”

The workforce game has changed forever and given the distribution of workforces and of talent overall today, talent access is the key to the new game, part of the new playbook that companies must use to succeed. Contractors will continue to play a larger role in business and the new rules of work must incorporate that view.

Brown believes that Upwork address all of the classic concerns (security and privacy, workforce reliability, cultural concerns, etc.) that business executives may have regarding this tectonic shift in how work is done and the broad shift to non-FTE workers. In today’s world, the leaders that get ahead on this major shift will win…and boldness will be rewarded.

*Jonah Berger, Professor at Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, talks about changing the mindsets around enterprise transformation. (Photo credit: Upwork)*

The WWL event featured a variety of industry leaders sharing their thoughts regarding the new world of work:

“Data gives us the opportunity to be predictable,” said Vito Labate, Vice President, Global Industry Marketing Leader at Capgemini during a panel discussion hosted by Upwork CMO Melissa Waters. In a chat centered around the changes in marketing, this panel highlighted how the application of top-tier freelance talent is a true differentiator (especially within their industry, where personalization is a key factor for clients).
“Companies have become a bit more comfortable with distributed and remote teams,” said Deb Elias, Director, Product Strategy and Operations at Chargebee. “Technology has played a critical role in how non-co-located team members to collaborate.” Upwork’s Chief Product and Experience Officer, Sam Bright, led a spirited panel discussion on how “the impossible” could be achieved via new Future of Work concepts (and technology!) in functions like product development and engineering now that they have access to highly-skilled, global talent.
“We’re not just listening…we’re counter-arguing,” stated Jonah Berger, Professor at Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania during his afternoon keynote address. “We have to allow for agency; we have to give them back some of that freedom and control.” Berger’s fantastic presentation focused on how business leaders can stop “selling” change and begin changing the mindsets around transformation…a crucial factor considering just how much the world of work has changed over the past few years.

The Impact of Direct Sourcing (and Direct Sourcing 2.0) Beyond 2022

Direct Sourcing by Christopher J. Dwyer on 07/13/2022

In the throes of year of Year Three of a pandemic, historic inflation, and an uncertain economy, the labor market is the very definition of “volatile.” Today, there is a powerful undercurrent happening in the business world that promises to permanently transform the way work is done: the growth, power, and impact of the extended workforce. Enterprises are on the cusp of a permanent change in how works gets done, accelerated by a pandemic that has pushed direct sourcing to the top of HR, talent acquisition, and procurement executives’ priority list.

The sudden shift to remote and hybrid work models forced businesses to pivot their work optimization strategies while simultaneously managing ongoing operations amidst a wildly uncertain present (not to mention, the most severe public health crisis in a century). Two major workforce priorities came to light directly as a result of 2020’s challenging times: the “reimagining” of workforce management (84%, according to Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange research) and the greater need for contingent labor (82%).

The era of social distancing, citywide curfews, and global lockdowns have had a profound effect on how businesses find, engage, and manage their workforce. In-person interviewing, scheduled recruiter meetings, collaboration between HR and hiring managers and other “taken-for-granted” procedures became nearly-impossible to perform due to new coronavirus restrictions. In direct response to the biggest public health crisis of the last century, business leaders developed new and innovative approaches to recruiting and hiring.

Too, the increase in utilization of non-employee labor (43.5% of the total workforce in early 2020 vs. nearly 47% of total workforce today) is a leading indicator of where the world of work is heading, and, more importantly, why direct sourcing will become a dominant form of talent acquisition well into 2023 considering that enterprises were required to rethink and “reboot” their workforce management processes. And, as the need for non-employee talent increases, direct sourcing makes ideal sense as the gateway to better staffing processes and superior talent.

Even basic direct sourcing programs can drive value through a combination of on-demand, plug-and-play talent, and hard-cost savings. But the pandemic’s impact on the workforce has dramatically accelerated market shifts. Today, talent is scarce and comes at a premium. As a result, workers are demanding greater flexibility from their employers. They are more focused on work-life balance, while also desiring greater independence.

Among many things, the “Talent Revolution” indicates a seismic shift in power towards the worker and away from the employer…meaning that businesses require a more powerful, more flexible, and more scalable version of direct sourcing. Enter “Direct Sourcing 2.0.”

Now is the time for “Direct Sourcing 2.0,” the next generation of sourcing strategies that blend innovative solutions with a renewed focus on the candidate experience and an ability to use talent pools to populate the key projects and roles that require expertise and experience. Today’s business climate has accelerated the need for a reimagined approach to candidate engagement. As the market for talent continues to tighten amidst the lingering pandemic and a surging number of resignations, businesses find themselves in a new kind of “war for talent,” one that is far more extensive and complicated than anything experienced pre-pandemic.

When Societal Change Contributes to Work Transformation

Business Leadership General Insights by Christopher J. Dwyer on 07/08/2022

I’m technically a millennial, however, my musical tastes are mostly skewed towards more nostalgia-tinged acts rather than the latest pop singles. I couldn’t name a single current hip-hop, pop, or country act that wasn’t around when I was in my twenties, but I could sure tell you the exact setlists for each time I’ve seen U2 or Metallica in concert.

So you could imagine my reaction to news that Beyonce’s latest single, “Break My Soul,” references The Great Resignation:

Now, I just fell in love / And I just quit my job / I’m gonna find new drive

Damn, they work me so damn hard / Work by nine, then off past five / And they work my nerves

That’s why I cannot sleep at night / I’m lookin’ for motivation / I’m lookin’ for a new foundation, yeah

And I’m on that new vibration / I’m buildin’ my own foundation, yeah/ Hold up, oh, baby, baby

You won’t break my soul

Now, I cannot imagine every single one of the 4.4 million individuals who left their positions in the month of April alone are merrily singing and dancing to this tune…however, the message is on point, for sure: a new foundation and a new motivation sparked by burnout, fatigue, and disillusionment.

This is admittedly not a pure reflection of the Future of Work, but is surely the tip of the iceberg when we think how society itself is shaping how work is done. Never before has there been so much overlap between our public and professional personas, in a time when politics, the economy, and current events are shaping how we think about work and how it fits into our lives.

I wrote recently that the COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally changed the link between us as humans and us as professionals. We were rethinking the role of “work” in our personal lives, and that, on top of other conditions (such as the need for flexibility and empathy), has caused many (many!) of us to reimagine what work meant to us and what we needed out of it.

No matter where a business leader stands personally regarding the recent overturn of Roe vs. Wade, the bigger question is: “How does affect my workforce? My people?” Thousands of very large enterprises with national followings have already made it known where they stand by offering their employees a safe environment in which to request paid leave and secure the necessary medical appointments. This does wonders for the very culture of these businesses and proves, once again, that societal change is actively transforming the way we work.

When we as business leaders and executives cultivate a positive, inclusive, and engaging workplace culture, and when we align that culture with the beliefs that matter to the workforce, new doors are opened. The negative ramifications of The Great Resignation pale in comparison to an enterprise that understands the perspectives of its staff and prospective talent.

What does this all mean? It boils down to this: “work” was once a separate part of our lives (a large one, albeit). Since the pandemic began, we saw the lines begin to blur. Economic and social behaviors changed and so did the ways we thought about work and our careers. Work means so much more than it ever did before, thus we as humans now actively seek self-fulfilling, flexible, and purposeful work. And as societal change continues to become a symbiotic element of work and business, it will be a critical attribute in how a company operates and how it is viewed from brand, workplace, and culture perspectives.