64% Of Firms Use Contract Hires to Manage Labour Shortage

According to a newly released 2022 Apac Workforce Insights report titled "Building Agility with a Contingent Workforce," about 64% of businesses in this country use a contingent workforce when undergoing a talent shortage. 

The flexibility of contingent workforce

A contingent workforce comprises short and fixed-term contractual workers, independent contracts or freelancers and outsourcing to agencies. One of the most common reasons businesses choose to adopt a contingent workforce is that it provides workforce planning flexibility and helps fill specialised roles without disrupting operations.

According to the report by HR solutions firm Persolkelly, the sectors most in favour of a contingent workforce in this country are:

• IT/high tech,

• Marketing, and

• General administration.

About 44% of organisations in Malaysia have already adopted a contingent workforce plan to grow their usage in the next two years. 

Meanwhile, 69% of businesses in this country are likely to reward the contingent staff the same or better than full-time employees.

Persolkelly said the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have led to economic uncertainty, and an unprecedented rate of growth in technology has made businesses reassess their recruitment strategies to stay competitive.

According to the data, many contingent staff are now highly skilled in specialised areas. They're more visible to businesses as part of the mainstream labour and not secondary to full-time employees.

More info about the survey

When asked how these companies go about sourcing for contingent stuff, the survey findings said that organisations are leaning towards communicating with recruitment agencies to help solve hiring and sourcing problems. 

This move allows specialists to do what they are competent at while the organisations' human resources and other internal teams concentrate on their core activities. This practice is most pronounced in Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, India, South Korea, and Vietnam.

Persolkelly Malaysia's managing director and country head, Brian Sim, said the nature of work is experiencing a transformation, and it is not limited to changes to the physical workspace. 

Employees are reviewing what works best for them from a personal and professional perspective. Simultaneously, employers are starting to widen their recruitment methods to tap into new opportunities that the job market can offer.

Brian said that there is a shift in the mindsets across the business landscape. More businesses are open to discovering non-traditional methods to stay competitive and succeed in today's fast-moving world. 

The survey findings involved about 1,112 employers and HR decision-makers through 12 nations in the Asia Pacific, including Malaysia.

Source: TheSunDaily