September 19, 2023 Is Recruiting Broken? Why Companies Should Seize this Moment and Update How they Source Talent

It’s rough out there. According to a recent U.S. Labor Market Report, recession jitters, fluctuating employment rates, and skittish talent are among the long list of challenges facing organizations and HR departments in 2023. How do you assemble and manage an effective workforce when instability is the norm? New conditions require new solutions. This is the perfect time for companies to rethink their hiring and recruiting systems. A full time employee who comes to the office with his briefcase in hand, clocking in and out at the same time every day, is a thing of the past. Work looks different, and talent acquisition and workforce management need to catch up.

The state of recruiting and how we got here

HR thought-leader Jon Younger outlined findings from Aptitude Research describing ongoing sourcing challenges and how companies are trying to address them. Seventy-three percent (73%) of recruiters state that they cannot find enough quality talent, and eighty-four percent (84%) said that they’re overwhelmed with more jobs to fill. Economic volatility and worker uncertainty are fueling these trends, and talent retention is one of the biggest challenges managers face in the post-COVID world. 

The trouble is that recruiting isn’t playing in the freelance game. While the number of freelancers continues to rise, talent-sourcing still largely thinks and acts in terms of full-time positions. But between the rise of hybrid and remote work, workers demanding more flexibility and engagement, the evolving needs of younger workers, and an all-out exodus from the workforce with the great resignation, quite simply, old-fashioned recruiting won’t cut it. The old workforce model comes from the industrial-era and lumps together tasks with processes. The new model requires leaders to develop problem-centric thinking. Instead of asking, “Who do you need?”, recruiters should be starting with, “What do you need to solve?”

The freelance revolution isn’t a threat – it’s an opportunity

Freelance talent is a way to embrace the volatility in the job market and an opportunity to change incomplete (or just plain old) models of recruiting and workforce management. Companies have a chance  to place a new human capital hybrid workforce strategy at the core of how they solve problems. The supply of top contingent experts has risen, and fractional c-suite positions and titles (“Fractional CMO”, “Fractional CFO”) abound. The flexibility and value-add that contingent labor provides to businesses is undeniable, especially in uncertain times. The key now is to fully embrace freelancers, not as a temporary or second-class solution to the difficulty of full-time hiring, but as an integral part of a new workforce strategy. Assembling and managing this new portfolio of talent is one of the major new deliverables of hiring and human resources departments.

Talent on Demand

We believe strongly in the power and potential of freelancers. For over 20 years we’ve been connecting businesses with emerging on-demand experts—coders, designers, and other technologists—to solve real-world issues. Our freelancer on-demand offering, Talent on Demand makes it easier than ever for our customers to get work done with top talent. Through the platform, customers can find and contract vetted talent with verified skills for part time or full time work. 

Specialized tech talent has never been more critical to business success, and Talent on Demand provides our customers with a fast, scalable digital workforce. A hybrid, on-demand talent strategy that blends FTEs, contractors, and on-demand talent (aka crowd) is proven to be an effective way to weather economic uncertainty and global change. Turning to trusted freelancers for their expertise, experience, and professional competency is a smart strategy for both SMB and enterprise companies alike.

To learn more about this offering and paired services, download our Topcoder TaaS eBook, or visit our Talent-as-a-Service page.