Maximising Strategic ROI: Key Strategies for Retaining Critical Contingent Worker Skills
HR can no longer absolve itself of retaining pivotal contingent talent; it is a matter of business continuity and risk mitigation. The contingent workforce is on the rise: as of 2025, freelancers make up 46.6% of the global workforce, ad 65% of global corporate executives intend to increase their contingent worker user over the next two years. In addition, Ernst & Young found that 83% of executives have increasingly relied on this talent for strategic thinking and specialised skills; losing this talent constitutes a risk.
The outdated, transactional approach to staffing - perceiving workers as merely temporary headcount - fuels turnover. The necessary action is to transition into a technology-enabled 'attract and engage' relational model founded on deeper engagement and ongoing relationships, backed by analytics.
The benefits of implementing comprehensive contingent workforce retention efforts are tangible:
- Reduced cost of talent acquisition
- Improved quality of hire
- Reduced time to fill (TTF)
- Improved onboarding time
TRS Workforce Solutions has decades of experience with highly skilled contingent worker needs across various industries, including infrastructure, oil and gas, and life sciences. We've been a global company servicing North America, EMEA, Asia, and Australia for over 40 years. Our systems are certified or compliant with ISO9001 quality management standards.
Foundational Shift: Managed Service Programs (MSP) Replacing the Transactional Model
The transactional model fails because it is disinterested in the worker experience, resulting in costly institutional knowledge exits and high turnover. Relational management is the answer, which can only be executed at scale by providing the structure and governance inherent to a Managed Service Provider (MSP).
A Managed Service Provider is a third-party specialist outsourcing company that runs the entire recruiting cycle of temporary/contingent workers (i.e., taking responsibility for program management, record-keeping and reporting, compliance, etc.). Our MSP is supported by our Vendor Management System (VMS) - the software platform that supports the tracking, reporting and management of vendors/workforce data to ensure compliance and governance for larger, multifaceted global programs. The MSP is the wholly managed service. The VMS is the software tool.
Securing long-term commitment requires an inclusive environment that overtly values contingent workers, appreciating their skills and ensuring they feel connected to the organisational mission. Our MSP governance protocols require clients to proactively integrate contingent workers into relevant communications.
A key part of such inclusion is pay equity. Organisations need to understand what contingent workers are making to ensure they continue to be compensated at market worth throughout the duration of the assignment. Only real-time data insights through an MSP/VMS can provide this level of access.
Data-Driven Worker Profile: The majority of contingent workers operate in diverse demographics. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS), as of July 2023, 6.9 million workers held contingent jobs, approximately 4.35% of the overall employed population. Among those aged 16 to 24, however, contingent workers were four times more likely to hold these positions compared to those older than 25 (contingent holder rate: 12.9% compared to 3.1%); also, Asian and Hispanic or Latino workers comprised a larger portion of contingent roles than other racial demographics. These younger generations are primarily focused on career development and resume building so any perceived pathways and interest in fairness become imperative.
Our VMS governance framework ensures robust compliance and transparency across global programs. It delivers real-time market rate benchmarking, comprehensive compliance auditing, and transparent pay review cycles. These processes are aligned with ISO9001-certified standards, guaranteeing consistency and quality in contingent workforce management.
Retention is only successful if a worker's needs are being met at the moment. Whether they require a steady schedule and consistent pay check, or they genuinely seek professional growth or resume enhancement, industry research shows that sometimes, base pay isn't the only thing that matters. Flexibility, culture and growth are top considerations, hence the need for a flexible incentive approach.
Our three-tiered incentive approach streamlines what increases the worker's long-term value:
- Professional Development/Skill Development: Covers the cost for reputable workshops, certifications that apply to the work done and appeals to the resume enhancement/development aspect (i.e. the gig becomes a career accelerator).
- Flexibility/Autonomy: Allows the worker to keep their flexibility. The contract will outline potential roads of scope creep/crossing boundaries which would otherwise be considered disrespectful to the contingent worker's independent status.
- Future Opportunity Considerations: Ensures a defined path. The VMS team can flag these 'excellent' contractors as 'preferred candidates' for new opportunities down the line which will appeal to wanting to stay long-term.
The most relevant MSP strategy for a successful contingent worker is redeployment to new opportunities. Engagement is one thing, but assessing returns on strategic value is another thing entirely. The most immediate measures we take are through reduced talent acquisition cost, increased time-to-fill and reduced onboarding time.
Our MSP team will start proactively marketing a successful contingent worker internally or externally at least 90 days before their assignment ends. There is no reason for gaps between jobs; they create unemployed talent.
This is possible to facilitate at scale through advanced VMS technology. The VMS stores performance and certification data for all contingent workers, and its AI algorithms use predictive analytics to identify high-performing talent likely to be needed for future roles. This ensures organisations can redeploy specialised workers before their current assignments end, reducing the risk of losing critical skills.
Measurable ROI: Financial and Strategic Benefits to Retention
This ability to facilitate such methodologies means a direct, measurable revenue impact and positive ROI to the MSP engagement.
MSP outsourced contingent programs can realise total cost-savings up to 20% of a client's current agency spend if they employ formal retention strategies. If redeployment efforts pan out, this is cost-savings without reinvesting the overhead and administrative costs of an outsourced talent acquisition option.
Retention, additionally, acts as a risk mitigating factor. Redeployed resources inherently understand the culture and compliance of the end-clients involved for TTF (time-to-fill) of positions required in sensitive operations quicker than external entry. With TTF reduced by 15-30 days (as opposed to getting someone ramped up), especially during introduction week when everyone meets and greets to understand the project, lost billable hours relate to project delays when everyone knows the project but there are not enough resources staffed up yet.
Key Takeaways:
- The Strategic Need: The contingent skillset will comprise nearly 50% of the global workforce so strategic retention will be increasingly vital.
- MSP Model: Success will depend on the shift from a transactional MSP model to one based on relationship-building techno-centric "attract and engage" initiatives.
- The Engine: VMS technology will act as the centralised repository for real-time engagement, performance evaluation, and compliance requirements relative to any determinations made about specific contingent resources.
- Drivers: Thus, incentives must be extraordinarily granular to cater to individual appeal (e.g., career advancement opportunities) yet, if flexible and developmental enough, may convince workers otherwise dedicating themselves beyond wages due to comparative incentive delivered assets appealing more due to other value adding benefits.
- ROI: The greatest cost avoidance experienced comes from a proactive talent pipeline for redeployment which, if leveraged, ensures no engagement costs for up to 90 days redirected back into the engagement process - for an MSP it's a directly alignable integrated solution with total potential cost avoidance of 20% agency spend.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
A VMS tracks key operational metrics and assignment milestones. For example, performance evaluations and time-sensitive end dates provide insight to the MSP team and teams implement a 90-day proactive, pipeline approach to redeployment efforts days ahead of an assignee's current contract expiring. This means that talent is found sooner than later for quality workers and they remain in the client's system.
The VMS is the software platform/technology tool that tracks, reports and provides an overview of the vendor universe and contingent workforce variables. The MSP is the outsourced service that utilises the VMS for strategic governance, knowledge and procedural management with an operation-specific focus on what it takes to successfully retain talent and achieve strategic results.
Labour statistics show that contingent workers are primarily younger (aged 16-24) and comprise a certain percentage of diverse populations. Retention plans will make the most sense when attitudes about work as a skill-building opportunity vs. career advancement differ based on the expected population versus certain populations where skill development must be coupled with transparency in advancement potential.
Summary
Retention of critical contingent worker skills is a fully measurable, direct outcome of operational best practices and strategic technological investments. By applying a centralised, MSP-oriented relational structure between teams, organisations can no longer see temporary staffing as a liability, but rather, a high-value source for talent acquisition and leverage. TRS Workforce Solutions delivers this institutional solution, utilising our four decades of global expertise and adherence to ISO9001 standards, ensuring our clients maintain compliance, control, and, most importantly, the specialised talent required to achieve their strategic goals across critical global industries.
Author Bio
Author: Mike Innes - Global Managing Director, TRS Workforce Solutions
Bio:Mike Innes leads TRS Workforce Solutions globally, bringing over 25 years of expertise in designing and delivering large-scale workforce strategies for critical industries such as energy, renewables, and infrastructure. Based in London, Mike has spearheaded international operations and innovative solutions that optimise efficiency and compliance across Managed Services Programs (MSP) and Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO).