Contingent Workforce Grows: College Grads Have More Job Opportunities Than Ever But They Must Be Prepared

  SAN DIEGO, CA - 05/17/2016 (PRESS RELEASE JET)

There’s a bright spot for college grads despite their growing student loan debt. For the first time in a decade, the nation has more job openings and increased demand for recent college grads. 

According to CareerBuilder.com, nearly 75 percent of employers surveyed will hire graduates straight out of college this year. 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that job vacancies are still historically high at about 5.4 million at the end of February.

But the type of jobs college grads end up with may not look like the ones in the past.

“By 2017, it’s expected that 47% of the global workforce will be made up of contingent workers,” says Brandon Moreno, president of EverHive Corporation, a strategic management consulting firm that works with companies to effectively help hire and create systems for internally managed contingent worker programs.

“These graduates may find that they have jobs that look a lot more like independent contractors and are project-based instead of being a regular full-time employee,” says Moreno.

This poses challenges for both the businesses and the college grads.

Large organizations get saddled with huge costs for finding and managing the right contingent workers.

“For instance, Herbalife has nearly 8,000 employees worldwide. In 2015, the company hired over 1,000 workers in the U.S. and about 40 percent were contingent,” says Moreno. 

Prior to Moreno’s tenure, the company was paying a lot of money to an outside agency to bring on and manage the contingent workers and the length of time to fill a position was excessive.

Moreno says companies using internal managed programs (IMP) for their contingent workforce can save millions, generate revenue, and cut in half the time it takes to hire workers, while increasing the quality of service.

College grads are leaving universities are burdened with their own mounting debt for student loans. The class of 2015 was the most indebted ever with stats showing the average grad from last year owed $35,000 at the time of graduation.

“These grads and companies need each other but, sadly, the way hiring has changed could slow the process hurting business productivity due to the lengthy and complicated hiring process of these workers. This leaves grads unemployed and struggling to pay down their debt,” says Moreno.

When the hiring is accomplished, the results are overall superior to that of full-time employees. Contingent workers have greater job satisfaction (86 percent) compared to (73 percent) permanent workers. The majority (54 percent) also feel “I’m paid what I’m worth” compared to (42 percent) regular workers.

“People often think of contingent workers as admin and clerical positions. That is only part of the equation. There are many Fortune 500 companies hiring information technology and executive-level people for contingent high-skilled jobs,” explains Moreno. “These companies understand that their contingent worker programs are part of a strategic workforce rather than simply a tactical component.” 

Moreno says both professionals, and college grads can prepare themselves to have a competitive advantage in the 21st century contingent workforce by doing these things:

Tips For College Grads

Always be a student.  Even when you are a leader.  It’s important to always be learning something new – whether a new industry, a new product, or simply learning how to navigate with various personalities of people, it is critical to continue to grow.

Showcase how your unique personality and academic background bring value.  No one is the same, so it is important to know what you are most passionate about and how you can bring new ideas to an existing problem.

Always have a business mindset.  Understanding the dynamics of business will always give you an upper hand.  No matter what your role, you will most likely encounter situations where you can provide an opportunity to improve the bottom-line.  

Tips For Professionals And Executives

Discover a solution for something the company doesn’t know it needs yet. You have the unique perspective of a company’s product and the experience to know what works and what doesn’t.  Oftentimes, there are opportunities for your expertise that companies are unaware of. As a contingent executive, you most likely are able to provide solutions to a project or seize the opportunity to provide order to chaos.

Determine whether you prefer being a 1099 or W2 contractor.   Most companies shy away from independent contractors (1099) for liability purposes and some contractors prefer to have taxes withheld from their pay.  There is a big difference when it comes to tax time too.  Determine your comfort level for each and be prepared to offer options.  For example, a 1099 contractor will usually have a higher rate because there are no taxes being withheld.

Know when you peak.  Most project-oriented people will peak after a certain time on a project.  Whether it’s 6 months or 24 months, know what that is for you.  This will ensure you are continuously fueled by different projects and allows you to provide maximum engagement for the company.

About EverHive

EverHive Corporation, (www.everhive.com) is a team of human resource (HR), information technology (IT), and procurement professionals. It’s currently the only company in the world offering major corporations (with contingent spends of $10-$100 million) the expertise they need to create a vision for their overall temp and contingent worker programs.

Since 1993, founder Brandon Moreno has been working with leading companies including Northrop Grumman, Sony, Cardinal Health, Herbalife, and others to bring order to the chaos that often surrounds the talent and contingent worker strategy. In so doing, he and his team have helped countless companies survive – and thrive – in a rapidly changing people landscape.

Unlike Managed Service Providers (MSPs), EverHive keeps the power where it belongs – with your own company. We work with your internal thought leaders to assess and build a contingent worker process that fits your company, your culture, and – ultimately – your bottom line.