Companies all over the world are suffering from a skills shortage, and it's increasingly critical and difficult to find the kind of talent you need. This leaves massive gaps in all kinds of industries, putting a great deal of pressure on the economy, on education and on the future of the companies themselves, all of which can only spell trouble.

Filling Skill Gaps

In an age when certain skills and talent are difficult to find, this can create a great deal of problems for all sides. For skilled workers who exist (albeit in short supply), they can often lack the experience desired, have less education than necessary – they might not even be in your country or city. There's also a great deal of competition that comes with them. Competitors also need those skilled individuals and so it becomes a race to see who can woo them. Can you afford a bidding war? Can you offer them better benefits or a longer contract? This can take hiring, which is already stressful to an extent, to an entirely new level of stress and can often lead to expensive decisions, if they even pan out correctly.

As for the companies in question, this can change their entire future. If you simple don't have the qualified people you need in the positions you need them in, you become less productive and it can affect every aspect of your operation. As mentioned, this can often lead to frantic hiring policies, ineffective and inefficient processes, and monetary losses. Luckily, there's an increasingly popular and timely fix.

Independent Contractor Management

That fix is independent contractors and agencies that work with them – or, in other words, agencies that help you recruit contingent workers. Contingent workers have begun penetrating all aspects of the market, regardless of the industry and are here to stay. The main draw for these kinds of workers is their sheer flexibility, but they are also highly skilled individuals who can work from anywhere in the world to help you fill gaps in the workforce. 

The beauty of the independent contractor is being able to rely on an individual who can fit specific roles within your company, whether they're working on specific projects, bringing domain specific expertise to an already established team, or simply handling peripheral tasks to avoid draining your own personal resources. An agency will have established networks of reliable workers at their beck and call and can simplify the recruitment process for you.

Companies who specialize in independent contractor management place a high emphasis on relationship building, so not only are they confident in the contingent workers they work with, but they are intent on familiarizing themselves with what's most important to you and your business. Independent contractors have proven to be an incredibly efficient investment for businesses all over the world. Being able to apply highly skilled individuals only as needed saves money in the long run, and using a third party hiring agency to find them saves a great deal of time. That even includes the anticipation of needs for the future, sourcing candidates from desired areas (whether worldwide or local), and working within your desired time frame and budget. They manage a great deal of other aspects as well, like the risk minimization involved in reclassification (or avoiding misclassification lawsuits), ensuring all negotiations are done in the best interest of all parties involved and handling high level communication to ensure everything goes smoothly.

With someone else worrying about all the details, you can focus solely on furthering your own business’s success. You no longer have to worry about desperate searches for the right talent in a barren market. The war is won.