Deloitte and the MIT Sloan Management Review recently released Workforce Ecosystems: A New Strategic Approach to the Future of Work.
This research study found that most executives and managers today "consider employees and other workers who create value for the enterprise — including contractors, service providers, gig workers, and even software bots — to be part of their workforce."
They also found about 1/3rd (34%) of the firms surveyed plan to increase their use of external nonemployee labor (freelancers, etc.) over the next 18-24 months.
An interesting study finding is that small businesses are more likely to say they plan on increasing their use of non-employee labor than large corporations.
The chart below uses data from an interactive tool provided as part of the Workforce Ecosystem study.
While interesting, it's not surprising. The use of nonemployee contract labor by SMBs has been rapidly growing for over a decade.
SMBs tend to be more flexible and less bureaucratic around the use of nonemployee labor than bigger corporations. And so while both large and small firms have been increasing their use of nonemployee labor, SMBs have been doing so at a faster rate.
We expect this trend to continue.