Last week, I highlighted four trends to watch in the wake of the “phased reopenings” happening across the global business world, including the short- and long-term ramifications of remote and virtual work, the rise of “localized” co-working spaces, how productivity will be measured as reopenings occur, and, of course, the expected growth in utilization of contingent labor and non-employee talent over the next six months (and how it will impact contingent workforce management (CWM) programs).

I spoke with several leaders across the CWM technology market for additional perspectives on what reopening means for the workforce:

Brian Hoffmeyer, SVP of Market Strategies, Beeline

“I read the CPORising.com article on what the phased re-opening means for the workforce with interest and agree with the points made; they mirror what we are seeing with our clients and the MSP partners that work with them. We’ve seen a seismic shift in clients’ willingness to support contractors working remotely; they’re now specifically tracking that (and related things such as the equipment and access needed) throughout the VMS process. They’re now using that information to help guide them in making decisions on which workers should return to the physical workplace and which can continue to be remote (temporarily or “forever”).

Further, this pandemic will force employers to look even more closely at which jobs can be done remotely and will, in my view, drive further growth in the use of contractors of all types.”

Steve Knapp, Director, Coupa Contingent Workforce

“We are seeing that the new normal will be an increased percentage of virtual work, even for the non-employee workforce. To that end, we believe it will be more important than ever for organizations to have a good understanding of and a comprehensive system for managing the cross-border supply of labor. Whether its remote workers in another country or state, there will be far-reaching implications in the areas of sourcing, onboarding, management and taxation. Now more than ever, it’s important to have all non-employee worker types under one roof.”

Steve Schumacher, Senior VP, Global MSP, Allegis Global Solutions

“We’re seeing companies turn the corner on uncertainty and plan for the future. The way forward will not be defined by the way things were in the past. Flexible workers are part of the core business strategy. Remote work is now widely accepted as part of corporate culture. And the hunger for visibility into the workforce is real. It’s about being strategic around who does the work and how those resources are managed, how to balance costs, and how to sharpen your focus on outcomes. These are the concerns we’re helping clients address with more urgency now.”

Chris Milligan, CEO of Adepto (A Degreed Company)

“With workplaces starting to re-open, now is a good time for business leaders to re-assess their preconceptions around how work gets done. The past few months have seen work as we know it completely overhauled, with people switching to remote set-ups almost overnight. This will continue, with a quarter of workers anticipating that they will continue to remote work for at least half their week once the current crisis passes. This paves the way for other work innovations, like shifting to more on-demand work and redeploying workers to where the business needs them most. More than ever, we are witnessing a rapid change in culture around work – towards task and project-based work instead of solely looking at the 9-to-5/in-office role as a sign of job completion.

Expect to see a number of organizations innovating rapidly over the coming months, spurred on by our new distributed workplaces (a mix of office, co-work, home, and on-the-road). Competitive divergence often increases during downturns, as organizations with cash supplies are able to capitalize through hiring top talent that may have been let go and acquiring other companies and their resources. Indeed, 14% of companies across all sectors increase both growth and margins during recessions.

Skills will be a huge focus. Getting the right skills in the right places to increase production and take advantage of future opportunities, in a climate of widespread hiring freezes. Organizations will have to achieve more with less, making the most of every worker – they will have to get creative about getting the right skills into their talent pool. Whether that’s drawing from an on-demand workforce of permanent, freelance, contract, and alumni talent, or upskilling and redeploying from low-demand business areas.

Upskilling will be vital in the short-term to ensure people can mobilize into new roles if needed, to train in workplace public health measures (like social distancing) and longer-term to ensure the continuity, resilience, and robustness of the business.

There is an unparalleled opportunity for workforces to become more agile as workplaces re-open. By looking at new ways of getting skills needed, cross-skilling across departments, improving internal mobility, and changing the culture around work completion. By looking at each of these areas – as well as the practical ways of re-opening a workplace – business leaders can emerge from the crisis in a stronger position, ready to get going again and face whatever the future may bring.”

Jonathan Stokoe, SVP – Global Head of Marketing Operations, Pontoon Solutions

“By partnering with our clients and our suppliers at the onset of the pandemic, we are now best-placed to advise and guide them to a safe restart. Our newly-established supplier council is generating valuable best practice frameworks and industry impacts allowing us to ensure the best level of preparedness.”

Marlon Rosenzweig, CEO and Co-Founder, WorkGenius

“Never before was “time-to-hire or time-to-value” more important than now. The artificial demand depression is followed by an unprecedented surge in demand for talent. The cards are getting reshuffled and the companies with the fastest talent acquisition will not only serve clients sooner but end up with the better talent which just became available.”

Tagged in: Chief Procurement Officer, Christopher Dwyer, Complex Categories, Contingent Workforce, Lists, Solution Providers, Strategy, Technology