Dive Brief:

• According to a recent survey of 80 CHROs from leading employers, 95% of those interviewed are using or anticipate using more non-traditional (non-employee) skilled workers than ever before.
• The Institute for Corporate Productivity (ic4p) survey, Beyond Uber: The Evolution of Work, polled large, well-known employers including Starbucks, 3M, McDonald's, Cigna, TIAA-CREF, Cardinal Health and Cargill. 
• Using non-traditional workers it not novel. What is new is the shift in the type of non-traditional worker these employers seek, as well as the strategies employed to use them, according to the research. 

Dive Insight:

The implications of the sharing economy trend, with an increased emphasis on non-traditional workers, is affecting the way employers manage culture, engagement and brand, as well as workforce planning and talent acquisition. This includes developing closer relationships and oversight with contractor and agency talent procurement, for example, say survey respondents.

"Clearly, Uber epitomizes the growing non-traditional labor force, as well as changing ideas and attitudes about both the implicit and explicit employer-employee contract," says Kevin Oakes, CEO at i4cp. He added that this evolution—one rooted in accelerating worker demand for control and flexibility—affects many companies across a diverse set of industries and business models.

"We believe this will increasingly become a greater factor in any organization's ability to attract and retain talent, as well as achieve productivity gains," Oakes says.

According to John Murabito, executive vice president of human resources at global health services organization Cigna, "We are trying to make sure that providers [of workers] we are dealing with also have the right people systems in place to insure a high level of capability.”