TALENT TRENDS
Are you taking advantage of the Gig Economy? It offers flexibility, specialized skills and more With the rise of the U.S. gig economy, more and more companies are taking advantage of the resources outside of their own doors And the life sciences industry is at the forefront. According to a recent survey by Experts OnTap, 77% of life science leaders leverage external consulting expertise at least once every year. According to Tania De Decker of Randstad, “The life sciences industry is renowned for its rapid hiring practices. When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration finally approves a new medication, therapy or nanodevice, HR departments at pharma and biotech firms must swiftly launch recruitment campaigns – typically aimed at full-time professionals – to scale up operations to get the product out to market as quickly as possible. However, with the growth of the gig economy, gig workers are quickly emerging as a better way to quickly assemble a cost-effective,
agile workforce for this changing sector. It’s not surprising with the high employment rate and the current candidate driven marketplace companies are turning to the “alternative workforce” to bring in talent in more flexible and on-demand manner. In another Randstad report, “more than any other sector, life sciences and healthcare employers (85%) say talent scarcity is one of their business leaders’ greatest concerns.” According to a recent survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 83% of the SHRM members polled said their organization uses external workers. Last year’s Morgan Stanley report, “The Gig Economy Goes Global,” indicated that the
Figure 1
47 | HS&M JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020
freelance work force has grown three times faster than the overall workforce, which represents 35% of the total U.S. working population. Estimates suggest that within ten years, freelance workers may represent more than 50% of the U.S. working population. Agility, access to targeted skills sets and labor cost management were the top benefits. Research conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago for the Society for Human Resources and SAP in 2019 (“Want Your Business to Thrive? Cultivate Your External Talent”) concurs: flexibility, access to specialized talent and the need to accomplish specific projects were the three most commonly cited reasons for using external workers. (Figure 1)
