Back in May 2016, I sat down at my desk with an expensive microphone, professional studio software, and several pages of notes. A few months prior, I pitched an idea to the Ardent Partners team: develop a dedicated, weekly podcast focused on the contingent workforce and the Future of Work. There was no podcast out there that had this type of focus, and most of the HR and talent-related shows at the time only slightly touched upon the evolution of contingent labor and its link to the way work was done.

Here we are now, five whole seasons and 201 episodes later, and the train keeps rolling. We’ve interviewed some of the leading technology executives from cutting-edge software companies, covered breaking news within the industry, shed light on how businesses could optimize work, and, most importantly, served as a consistent voice for the Future of Work movement.

Season Five of Contingent Workforce Weekly may be perhaps my favorite collection of episodes thus far. Through 38 shows from June 2020 until June 2021, we talked about the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusions, sang the praises of direct sourcing, chatted about blockchain and artificial intelligence, ruminated on the hybrid work model, and discussed the continued ramifications of a pandemic that is still raging across the world. Some highlights from Season Five:

• Last week (in the podcast’s Season Five finale), I had the pleasure of chatting with Sunil Bagai, CEO of Prosperix. He and I discussed the brand shift from Crowdstaffing to Prosperix and what it meant for the industry. Sunil and I have been friends for several years and it was amazing to sit down and chat all things Future of Work with him.
• Diversity has been a major focus this season. We had special guests, such as The Mom Project’s Greg Robinson and Donna Yelmokas, as well as Beeline’s Brian Hoffmeyer, on the show to talk about how major solution providers in our industry are tackling the notion of DE&I within the greater world of extended workforce management and talent acquisition.
• One of my favorite discussions this past year was with PROUnlimited CEO Kevin Akeroyd. Kevin has brought a refreshing vision to the world of contingent workforce technology and it was illuminating to hear his thoughts on the Future of Work.
• “Extended workforce management” has been a hot topic over the past two years, with more and more agile workers comprising the natural evolution of the contingent workforce. I had the opportunity to sit down with Utmost’s Annrai O’Toole to chat about his vision for the extended workforce software industry and how it will affect the Future of Work movement.
• It’s always an experience chatting with industry veteran and Beeline CEO Doug Leeby, who shed light on the company’s extended workforce solution, the evolution of its VMS platform, and what it’s like to be a longtime, trusted technology platform in an ever-changing contingent workforce landscape.
• Julie Swann and I discussed, at the time, what the impact could be from the emerging mRNA vaccines on the greater world of work and business. Dr. Swann brought some amazing commentary from her vast expertise and helped our listeners better understand why these vaccines were so critical to getting business back to a semblance of normalcy in 2021.
• Marc Husain (VectorVMS) and I chatted all things agile workforce and Future of Work early in Season Five. Marc is a fellow contingent workforce veteran and his amazing knowledge about our industry was a highlight for this past season.
• Checkr’s Chris Johnson was a frequent guest this past season, bringing his nearly 25 years of staffing expertise to Contingent Workforce Weekly to talk about not only the emergence of “signup culture,” but also ruminations on why the agile workforce would continue to impact the Future of Work in the months and years ahead.
• Catherine Candland, CEO of nextSource, jointly presented on the evolution of direct sourcing last year, so it was an honor to have her join me on the podcast in Season Five. Catherine and I exchanged views on why direct sourcing was positioned for great success during and after the pandemic, as well as why the MSP model’s progression was critical for the contingent workforce industry.
• Mike Wachholz and I have been friends for many years. There are few others in our industry that have the wealth of knowledge, expertise, and insights about the changing world of work. We chatted about his visions for MSP provider GRI, the criticality of direct sourcing, and other Future of Work attributes that will shape the contingent workforce in 2021.

Major thanks also go out to Beeline and DZConnex for sponsoring Season Five of the Contingent Workforce Weekly podcast. We’ll be back next week with the premiere of Season Six.

Listeners can subscribe to Contingent Workforce Weekly on Apple Music, Spotify, Stitcher, and iHeartRadio or they can stream it here on CPO Rising.

Tagged in: Christopher Dwyer, Contingent Workforce, Contingent Workforce Weekly Podcast, Solution Providers