PERSOLKELLY, the HR solutions company, has recently released its 2022 APAC Workforce Insights report titled “Building Agility with a Contingent Workforce”.
The report highlights how companies are turning to a Contingent Workforce strategy to overcome headcount shortages. Survey findings involved 1,112 employers and HR decision-makers across 12 markets in the Asia Pacific, namely Malaysia, Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
A contingent workforce includes short-term and fixed-term contractual employees, freelancers or independent contractors and outsourcing to agencies. The most common reason for adopting a contingent workforce is that it offers flexibility to workforce planning and helps to fill specialised roles without disruptions to operations.
Key findings from the report include:
● 64% of companies in Malaysia use a contingent workforce when experiencing a headcount shortage;
● 44% of companies in Malaysia who are already adopting a contingent workforce plan to expand their usage in the next 2 years;
● Sectors most in favour of a contingent workforce in Malaysia are IT/Hi-Tech, General Administration, and Marketing;
● 69% of companies in Malaysia are likely to reward the contingent workforce the same or better than full-time staff.
From the research, PERSOLKELLY concludes that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic leading to economic uncertainty, and an unprecedented pace of growth in technology has triggered businesses to rethink their recruitment approaches to stay competitive. Indeed, many contingent workers are now highly skilled in specialised areas, where they are increasingly seen by businesses as part of the mainstream workforce, and not secondary to full-timers.
When asked how they go about sourcing for contingent workers, survey findings implied that companies are leaning towards engaging recruitment agencies to help overcome hiring and sourcing challenges, enabling specialists to do what they are good at while companies’ human resources and other internal teams focus on their core activities. This is most pronounced in Australia, Singapore, India, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
“The nature of work is undergoing a transformation, and this is not limited to changes to our physical workspace. Employees are rethinking what works best for them from a professional and personal perspective. In tandem, employers are beginning to widen their recruitment approach to tap on new opportunities that the job market has to offer,” Brian Sim, Managing Director and Country Head of PERSOLKELLY Malaysia said.
“We are seeing a shift in the mindsets across the business landscape, where more are open to exploring non-traditional approaches in order to remain competitive and succeed in today’s fast-evolving world. The survey findings will help us build and refine robust Contingent Workforce strategies for our clients as part of our Regional Talent Solutions across the Asia Pacific,” concluded Brian.
