SDCExec.com |

By Sean Chou

The human capital marketplace is in a transitional state and shows no signs of settling in the near future. The changing worker composition and shift in worker priorities and demands have made it a challenge to anticipate trends and effectively acquire labor. Together these realities represent a shift from traditional work arrangements and blur the line between direct hires, contingent workers and service providers.

Organizations are facing hiring challenges related to two major trends that are taking center stage:

Changing Worker Landscape. Baby boomers are quickly approaching retirement age, and the generations that follow cannot accommodate this loss of workers. During the next two presidential terms, the number of new workers entering the labor market will grow by 4.3 percent, while the number of retirees will grow more than five times that figure, by approximately 23.9 percent, according to estimates attributed to the Social Security trustees.

Shifting Employee Needs. The next generations of workers, while already a much thinner pool of candidates, are characterized very differently than loyal, hard-working baby boomers. According to a variety of reports, both Generation X and Generation Y workers have a greater focus on their personal lives, prefer flexible work arrangements, have less employer loyalty and want the ability to go part-time once they have children.

While deploying siloed solutions helps procurement and human resources (HR) departments manage their own respective workforces, it does not allow a company to view its entire workforce to evaluate it as a whole. Only a unified technology platform affords companies a holistic view necessary to understand how best to utilize talent. To be successful, companies need to take a closer look at their worker composition and determine the mix of labor types that is best for their organization.

A unified technology platform allows for several strategies to cope with the shrinking and increasingly transient workforce we are faced with today:

Alumni Talent Pool. A holistic approach allows organizations to implement an alumni talent pool and tie it to the requisitioning process. This will allow companies to selectively tap into the best and brightest alumni for all types of positions. Re-sourcing retirees as contingent workers or consultants will allow them to work reduced hours while still serving as mentors for the next generation of workers. Likewise, companies can offer full-time positions to the best-performing contingent workers and contractors.

Non-traditional Positions. A unified solution can offer companies the flexibility needed to acquire and manage workers that have very unique demands. To meet their needs while still meeting their own business goals, companies may need to offer young workers contingent, contract or flex-time positions more frequently than full-time positions. These non-traditional positions offer workers the experience they demand while still allowing for the flexibility that full-time positions lack.