What is it?
A blended workforce is a workforce model that combines full-time permanent employees with temporary, part-time, freelance and/or contract workers. This flexible staffing strategy allows organisations to leverage both internal talent and external expertise, creating a diverse pool of workers with varying skills and employment statuses. A blended workforce typically includes full-time employees, independent contractors, freelancers, temporary staff, and sometimes gig workers.
Why is it important?
- Flexibility and Scalability: A blended workforce allows companies to scale up or down based on demand, bringing in temporary or specialised talent as needed without long-term commitments. This is especially important for businesses with seasonal demands or project-based work.
- Cost Efficiency: By mixing full-time employees with contract or freelance workers, organisations can save on long-term costs such as benefits, pensions, and training that are typically associated with full-time staff.
- Access to Specialised Skills: Companies can tap into the global freelance and contract workforce to access specialised skills for short-term projects without the need for permanent hires.
- Diversity of Thought and Innovation: A blended workforce encourages diversity in thought, approach, and problem-solving since it includes a variety of workers from different backgrounds and experiences.
- Improved Agility: Organisations with a blended workforce can respond more quickly to market changes, customer needs, or unexpected challenges by bringing in temporary or specialised workers to fill gaps or meet new demands.
