Contingent Labour Review: Key Procurement Priorities (Part 1) — Setting the scene for change

The contingent labour market continues to grow as more and more organisations, guarding against economic uncertainty and risk, allocate more spend to this area. It is a spend category that is increasingly critical for procurement to get right, not just in terms of managing demand and getting the right specifications for contingent roles, but more fundamentally, driving real value out of every element of the contingent labour supply chain. Having spoken with senior procurement executives from a number of major public and private sector organisations, we draw on the real issues they face today, analyse what they might mean for procurement, and look at how procurement might tackle them.

This paper looks at the topic generally, and at the current market structures in place to manage it; it then deciphers how organisations are engaging with the market and their internal stakeholders, and identifies the varying levels of organisational maturity in dealing with this sector. In part two of this report, to be published later this month, we go on to discuss the future for contingent labour and make some recommendations for procurement professionals involved in the area.