The Demand for Agile Staffing Solutions in Events
As the event industry continues to expand and change, companies are also being forced to adapt–now, not only to stay afloat but to stay competitive. According to a Harvard Business Review Survey, “90% of c-suite and frontline leaders believe high-skilled freelance platforms will be core to their ability to compete in the future.”
Agile talent is in high demand globally, with 1.1 billion freelancers currently around the world. According to Forbes, there are 59 million in the U.S.–which is more than 1/3 of the entire U.S. workforce. This freelance workforce has already contributed $1.2 trillion to the U.S. economy. These numbers are projected to grow, and so is the demand for freelance talent in the meeting and events industry.
What’s the draw? A fluctuating industry and work landscape require companies to have more flexible business models to address new and unique needs. An agile staffing model gives companies access to unique talent to fill missing roles and/or complement in-house talent and resources. It also allows companies to augment their services, as freelancers are experts in specific, often niche, skills.
“Freelancers are increasingly high-skilled: 50% of freelancers provide skilled services such as computer programming, marketing, IT, and business consulting.” - Upwork
An evolving workforce
The pandemic forced a shift in the work landscape that made it easier than ever for people to freelance. The shift broke down barriers for the freelance workforce, specifically in the events industry, which continues to fuel its growth.
With any industry change, behavior changes are the most challenging. The work-from-home culture shocked many who were not already versed in remote work, and most companies were unprepared for the new workplace dynamic.
Freelancers were successful and essential in this shift because they were already experts in working remotely–away from other co-workers–and adapting to unique client needs.
Because freelancers traditionally take the initiative to upskill in order to stay relevant in the talent market, they were prepared to learn the necessary new technologies and certifications to adequately support evolving company needs.
59% of freelancers had participated in skills training in the last 6 months vs. 36% of non-freelancers. - Upwork
This commitment to education will keep freelancers not only relevant but valuable in a still-changing work landscape. When companies integrate agile staffing, they’ll gain benefits in the present and the future.
Investing in agile staffing
The freelance workforce is indeed the future of work, and businesses will undoubtedly need agile talent to stay competitive. Here are three ways companies should invest in agile staffing solutions now to ensure they have talent when they need it.
1) Gain expert knowledge without a big overhead
Among the many benefits of freelancers, they are all experts in what they do. Therefore, if a business needs someone with specific expertise, they can hire their skillset for any amount of time, saving the salary cost of needing that role in-house. This is a perfect example of how a company can gain senior-level knowledge without the cost of paying a full-time salary. Do not underestimate the power that agile talent can have on a team overall. Even if the placement is short-term, most freelancers will bring valuable skills, process improvements, and new strategies that will enhance the entire workplace.
2) Embrace the interim
Businesses can use freelance talent to their advantage to cover employee leaves of absence. Whether someone is taking a sabbatical, family leave, medical leave, or otherwise, they can solve interim needs by hiring agile talent. Freelancers are also extremely beneficial for covering gaps in temporarily vacant positions or for a needed short-term role.
3) Pay only for what you need
Among the advantages of hiring freelancers is the opportunity for companies to increase income without additional fixed costs. Think about it this way: the average full-time employee works 8.8 hours each day, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, a recent study found that most people are only productive for 2 hours and 23 minutes of that time every day. In other words, most companies are paying people for work that they’re not doing.
Now imagine hiring a freelancer or independent talent for half of a year and paying them only for the time they spend doing the job they’re hired for, and not extra. Opting for freelancers can save companies a considerable amount of money. This is especially true when projects have a start and end date. If budgetary or time restrictions prevent the investment in continuing education and upskilling, freelance talent is a great solution.
The Soundings Difference
It’s one thing to identify the need for agile staffing solutions in your organization; it’s another thing entirely to implement. At Soundings Connect, we leverage our Thrive talent community of meeting and event professionals to help our clients create agile staffing models that serve their needs–when they need them.
We uniquely lead with a people-first ethos at Soundings when we source and place our freelance and independent talent because we believe that expertise is only an entry point. Real magic happens when people are connected based on their human qualities. That’s not to say that expertise is not important. We hand-pick the freelancers in our network to maintain a diversified talent pool with specialized talent. We thoughtfully match talent with companies based on expertise and soft skills to drive results and innovation.
The key to maintaining an innovative talent platform, we believe, is focusing on the quality of the people in it, while also meeting the high quantity demand for freelance talent.
Our Soundings Connect offerings include:
On-Demand Staffing - Leverage our community of independent talent to augment your team and/or for specialized skill set.
Staff Augmentation - Need full-time assistance on a contract basis or parental leave coverage? Let us augment your team with the right talent.
Full-time Placements - When you get the headcount to hire, convert your top independent talent to full-time employees.
Recruiting - Talent is hard to find. Access our talent community
and talent specialists to find the best full-time talent for your team.
Now more than ever the event industry needs agile talent to help the world adapt to the shifting work landscape. An investment in agile talent is an investment in the future of work.
Interested in agile staffing solutions?
We’d love to help your organization implement a better talent solution and stay competitive in the industry.
In an industry that’s always changing, Soundings is committed to providing talent and companies with the most up-to-date tools, knowledge, and services needed to effectively plan, meet, travel, gather, and entertain. As the industry grows and expands, so do we.
Learn more about our offerings and connect with us here.