by Erica Feld, content marketing manager at Crowded.com
The on-demand economy is a buzz-worthy topic across the U.S. right now! If you aren’t familiar with the wording, you are probably at least familiar with the term “sharing economy” or “gig-economy.” Either way, it seems everyone from business owners to professors are weighing in on the pros and cons of this new workforce.
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To understand the benefits of hiring on-demand workers, one must first get used to the idea that the old standards of recruiting full-time, 40-hour-a-week workers, are changing and they are changing fast. This has something to do with the fact that the on-demand economy is growing at lightning speed—by the year 2020, 7.6 million Americans will be working as providers in the on-demand economy, more than doubling the current total of 3.3 million.
Companies are slowly starting to crack the recruiting code and figure out that utilizing these on-demand workers is beneficial for a variety of reasons. While this new way of recruiting talent won’t exactly work for every organization, it certainly has been working pretty well for others. The following are benefits of recruiting on-demand workers:
Lower costs
Hiring on-demand workers is beneficial from a cost perspective. On-demand workers are classified as independent workers, meaning they are not salaried employees and are not entitled to company benefits.
Companies can also save money on office space as well because these workers usually work from home, from their local coffee shop, or wherever they please to carry out their tasks. On-demand workers are also paid on a project by project basis, meaning your company can save money paying for these workers on an as needed basis, instead of a yearly salary.
Scalability
This is a plus for companies because while we all try our best to forecast demand, there is always the possibility that some outside factor or margin of error could offset our needs in an instant. With the on-demand workforce, you have the ability to quickly and seamlessly scale number of workers up or down rather quickly and without having to deal with corporate politics.
Quality/Skillset of hire
Certain on-demand workers, namely the Baby Boomers who are retiring later and later, have years of experience under their belt. These workers are ready to tackle specific projects head on and with a certain gusto that full-time employees lose over time.
The same goes for Millennials who have been out of college for 5+ years. They are excited about what they do and can offer just as good, if not better, results than any full-time employee. Contrary to widespread belief, the on-demand worker is highly skilled, knowledgeable in their field, and professional!
Flexibility
Bottom line, on-demand workers are available and ready to work when you need them. If you want to get jump started on a project before or after typical work hours, or even if you have an exact time frame or deadline to meet, the on-demand workforce is a good solution. This is exactly why these workers got their name “on-demand”, because whenever you need them, they are available on-demand!
For employers who are looking to cut costs, hire skilled candidates, and save overall time with the hiring process, then turning to the on-demand workforce for recruiting talent is a great idea. The on-demand economy is still rapidly growing, and with more and more talented workers joining this easy-to-access, on-demand workforce each day, you’d be crazy not to rethink your hiring strategy.
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Erica Feld is the content marketing manager at NYC based HR tech startup Crowded.com. Crowded.com is revolutionizing the speed and ease at which on-demand and hourly workers are connected with the employers ready to hire them. |