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The impact of The Great Resignation on the external talent marketplace

The impact of The Great Resignation on the external talent marketplace


Through the last couple of years, the working world has been turbulent. Organisations had to adapt to the pandemic and all it brought with it. Employment perks, such as flexible and remote working, became a necessity for many. And for those who couldn’t work remotely, the government stepped in with their Furlough scheme. But now we keep seeing flickers of life as it was before. And for many workers, it’s not a welcome return.

The rocky road to recovery from the pandemic has caused a phenomenon throughout the workforce, dubbed The Great Resignation. People are quitting their jobs in favour of more flexible work. And this isn’t isolated to one or two industries. In fact, organisations in all sectors from Retail to Technology, are facing an onslaught of resignations. So, what impact does this have on freelancers and the external talent marketplace?

 

What caused The Great Resignation?

To understand the impact of The Great Resignation, we have to understand why it happened in the first place. So, what was it about the pandemic that made people quit their jobs? Well, the truth is, there’s more than one answer:

  • The workforce wants a better deal
    For many – particularly those in office-based jobs – the flexibility that came with handling the pandemic opened their eyes to a new world of possibilities. Such as being home in time for dinner with their children. Getting more time to spend on their hobbies. Or perhaps more time to spend relaxing and unwinding without the stressful commute. And with many organisations returning to pre-covid operations, many of these benefits have been taken away from employees.The CEO of Slack, Stewart Butterfield summed this up by saying“If we say that everyone must return to the office, or we expect people to, and one of our competitors says you can work remotely, who wouldn’t take the second option there?”
  • Thriving job market
    The recruitment firm Randstad UK recently surveyed 6,000 workers and found that 69% of them felt confirmed about moving to a new role in the next few months. And this is in part to the huge number of vacancies available right now. In fact, Victoria Short, CEO of Randstad UK said that “Covid [reminded people] that life is too short – and the number of vacancies means that [if] they want to change one of the key aspects of their life – their jobs – they can.”
  • The end of the workplace camaraderie
    The pandemic has caused an abrupt change in the motivations for working for a particular employer. Gone are the days when you were sitting in an office next to your friend. Instead, we’ve spent nearly 2 years working from home, so who we work for has become less important. “Suddenly, those factors, which are surprisingly powerful, are negated; working from home makes it matter less who you work for” commented Victoria Short.

 

So what about freelancers?

The Great Resignation means that the current talent marketplace is tough. It’s full of super talented, hard-working individuals who can truly make a difference to organisations worldwide. So this means those who’ve been in the external talent marketplace for a while might face some new, fresh competition. In fact, many of the individuals resigning from their roles are opting to embrace the world of freelancing; with one report showing that more professionals are freelancing than ever before, and more professionals are open to the idea of freelancing in the future.

Despite the increased competition, we do not believe that The Great Resignation is a bad thing for freelancers or the external talent marketplace. In fact, we anticipate that The Great Resignation, combined with the impact of the global pandemic will prompt more organisations to utilise the external talent marketplace going forward.

 

The future of The External Talent marketplace

Here at Jam Pan, we’re true advocates of the ‘blended talent marketplace’. That is blending your internal, full-time talent with external talent, such as freelancers. This creates a formidable business solution that can catapult your organisation to efficiency and success. And we’re not alone in this thought process.

Google is a tech company that many aspire to be like. And as one of the biggest organisations in the world, many people would assume that freelancers aren’t often utilised at Google. But like many assumptions, this is completely wrong. In fact, as of March 2019, Google employs more freelancers than permanent employees.

And we truly believe that many organisations will follow in Google’s footsteps. The external marketplace is here to stay, and likely to become more popular in future years. So why should you utilise the external talent marketplace in your organisation?

 

Three reasons you should use the external talent marketplace

  • Cost effective.
    Hiring freelancers is often more cost effective for organisations than hiring full time employees. Especially when the future is uncertain. This might be particularly relevant in the L&D industry – due to the digital transformation it’s undertaking right now. Some organisations may need more hands to hit deadlines to digitise their content, but thereafter may have less demand. In this situation, it’s a no-brainer to utilise freelance talent.
  • Get the best person for the job, every time.
    By using freelancers in your organisation, you have a much wider pool of talent to choose from. Many freelancers have been doing their jobs for a long time, and have a really diverse range of experience that you can benefit from by hiring them. In fact, our client benefited from almost 50 years of combined experience in one of our latest projects.
  • An outside perspective and fresh ideas.
    Freelancers will bring with them their experience, ideas, thoughts and opinions on your project. They are specialists in their field and are quite simply paid to get the job done right. So your next freelancer may bring an idea to the table that you never thought of and completely transform (or improve) your L&D offering. What more could you ask for?

So, if you’re dipping your toes in the water of the freelance talent pool and are unsure where to start. Get in touch. We’d love to help you realise the full potential of the external talent marketplace – and create real learning impact with our pool of talented freelancers.

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