A year into the pandemic. So much has changed and so much still remains ambiguous for us - with one question looming over everyone’s mind, “When will this get over?”. While we learned to manage ‘living with the virus’, the second wave of the virus hit India badly, confining people back into their homes. Although the healthcare system is overloaded with the unprecedented growth, the only positive thing is that this time the corporates are better equipped to handle the situation, which has been possible only due to digitization.

Work has totally transformed today. Companies prefer performance and productivity orientation over timesheet orientation. The trend has changed for good, for corporations have realized that the work and the quality of work matter, over the input hours that individuals log in a day. The focus has shifted to skills, talent, and efficiency.

Work from Home culture will not be going anywhere, barring of course the roles where physical proximity of the employees and teams are imperative, companies will prefer and promote work from home after looking at the results they have got during the pandemic, all thanks to digitization. Digitization has equipped organizations with the tools and matrices to govern and evaluate performances for the work from home employees. The mindsets have changed. The managers have moved from micromanaging the activity of their employees to focusing on the outputs, performance, and productivity.

This shift is extremely positive and will open the gates for talent from across the world. With physical proximity of the employees not being a critical factor in the assignment of employees for certain roles, the employers can look for talent outside the Tier 1 cities and can create a diverse and more competent team, balancing the skills and competency relevant for the work. This will also lead to minimizing the gender gap as many women who weren’t able to apply, due to location, travel, and fixed time constraints will now be able to join and work without having their capabilities questioned. Digitization judiciously generates employment opportunities for anyone with access to the internet.

People with incredible work ethics will find a boost in their careers. With revised work models, new governance matrices, and new performance measurement tools, now more than ever, organizations are comfortable in building and driving competent and diverse teams with high potential employees.

Flexibility, agility, productivity, and cost savings are the essential parameters that are driving decisions in the organization – every decision is evaluated and taken on these parameters. This in turn has compartmentalized workflows and created new opportunities to use distributed and organized workforce models. The organizations’ expenditure on the gig and contingent workforce will see an increase. Recently published data from Indeed showed the hiring of flexible or temporary staff in India climbed 22% in January from a year ago! But why is contingent staffing being looked forward to as the future of employment in India?

Flexibility and Agility

With optimization being the key factor in driving the business since the onset of the pandemic, a contingent workforce provides the much-required agility and flexibility. For project-specific ramping up to ramping down of workforce, for fulfilling a particular skill gap for a short duration, the contingent workforce is the only way to get dedicated employees, committed to the work assigned as and when required, while keeping the cost in check.

Cost optimization

Getting a contingent workforce for a shorter duration for a specific task is more cost-efficient than hiring full-time employees for the same work. With the ever-evolving technology demands, it is not viable for companies to hire full-time employees for every small gig.

Filling the skill gap

With the unprecedented, sudden growth of digital solutions, there has been a sudden rise in the requirement of a workforce skilled in digital technologies. It has been forecasted by Gartner, that the demand for resources in digital technologies would triple by 2025. To meet this inflation in demand, contingent workforce is the crucial wheel. Short-term contracts on employees for a specific task in specific projects, ensure the rotation of skills in the economy of a skilled workforce. The resources get available in the job market as their task gets or is about to get over and their skills can be leveraged by other companies.

Employer branding and Enhancing the talent matrix

By utilizing the gig economy and hiring external workers, organizations can ensure they have access to workers with specialized skills to complete work on a project-by-project basis and is a great way to supplement internal talent.

Faster hiring processes

Non-permanent workers allow your business to respond to the market and its demands as they happen. Your business will be able to quickly respond, change and adapt to market conditions, without the long delay often associated with full-time employees. They can be hired immediately, as soon as they are available in the market, and take much lesser time to be onboarded than a full-time employee does.

The pandemic has changed our world and the digitized world’s response led to innovations and disruptions. The pandemic has been a disrupter, an enabler, and an accelerator in the IT – ITeS space. With more and more innovation, technology has and will continue to allow greater collaboration, drive efficiencies and improve effectiveness in the workplace.