AI and contingent workforce management

Contingent workers make a tangible part of today’s organizations. Companies are keeping a contingent workforce for the benefits that come along with it. A contingent workforce gives organizations access to top talent on-demand. Contingent workers require less training compared to permanent workers. They are cost-efficient as additional things like employee benefits are ‌not applicable to them. A contingent workforce offers much more flexibility than permanent workers. 

Despite all the benefits, there are challenges with contingent workforce management. Communication is harder, and the workforce feels slightly disconnected, as permanent and contingent workers may stand by their differences. Managing the contingent workforce may get tough, but not when you have the right strategy and tools with you. 

Enhancing your VMS capabilities 

VMS stands for Vendor Management System. VMS is ‌a cloud-based software that streamlines the management of a contingent workforce. AI enables the use of intelligent applications in the VMS, which can be used as a virtual assistant. VMS makes managing contingent workers simple and easy, but with AI, a vastly improved user experience can be extracted from your VMS. 

Forecasting demand and supply 

It can become difficult to know how many contingent workers are required and what is the right time to hire them. Organizations have started using AI to predict the requirement of contingent workers. AI uses data from several sources and historical data to predict the right number of workers. This can save costs and improve performance on projects. 

AI for hiring the right contingent workers 

Bad hiring choices are not only limited to permanent employees, they extend to the contingent workforce, too. AI enables recruiters to attract contingent workers that are a better match for the company. The contingent talent landscape operates on a global level and choosing the best talent from multiple sourcing channels becomes somewhat challenging for the employer. AI matches candidates’ profiles with the job description and ranks them based on suitability. AI can also help in maintaining internal talent pools and engaging with them if the company doesn’t want to depend on third-party staffing agencies. 

Handling compliance and risk

Companies need to constantly keep a track of changing regulations in different geographies concerning contingent workers. AI helps companies to avoid penalties and warnings by alerting the company about any discrepancies in its policies that do not comply with regulations. AI screens through multiple channels of regulations and identify any risk related to contingent workers. 

Overall talent management  

AI helps in identifying gaps between current skills and the required skills for reaching a goal or completing a project. It then gives a suitable blend of the workforce, i.e. permanent and contingent, that will deem fit for completion of a goal. These useful insights are helpful for managers while making important decisions. AI can be used for onboarding, training, development, performance reviews, and reward system, among others, for better management of the contingent workers.

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