Local economies around the globe have been trying to figure out ways to continue business operations while still adhering to social distancing guidelines. While the solutions that businesses have concocted suggest the workforce we once knew is gone, creativity and resourcefulness are not in short supply. With COVID-19 disrupting our sense of normalcy every day,…

Thanks to COVID-19, the future of work has suddenly and unceremoniously become the present. Organizations that once prided themselves on their office space have gone entirely remote, and the contingent worker is now an integral part of the way work gets done. According to a recent Gartner survey, 32% of organizations have hired contingent workers to replace…

Increasingly in the last decade businesses have prioritized diversity in the workplace as a business strategy that maximizes productivity, creativity and loyalty of employees while meeting the needs of their clients or customers. If a company is only as good as their employees, then it stands to reason that a great deal of energy should…

In a contingent workforce program, front-end metrics like fill rate and bill rate provide a surface-level view of the partnership built by the program manager and vendor, but they don’t necessarily illustrate the long-term effectiveness of the union. Back-end metrics shed light on the big picture, giving insight into how effective your program truly is.…

For many companies, relying on a contingent workforce to get tasks done is a relatively new phenomenon, a result of the growing gig economy. While this increasingly popular workforce mindset is beneficial to both workers and companies, it includes its own set of managerial challenges. A risk assessment can help solidify that approach by identifying…

The coronavirus pandemic has been hard on small businesses. The virus and its fallout have caused more than 60% of small operations to lose revenue and about 40% to reduce employee hours to avoid layoffs, according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). With these factors working against small businesses, simultaneous efforts to make business- and…

COVID-19 has thrown countless lives and industries into upheaval. It probably should come as no surprise that 83% of employers have modified their business practices in response to the coronavirus. These modifications may be little more than an inconvenience for larger companies, but it’s a different story for smaller businesses. On average, small businesses only have enough…

The COVID-19 pandemic is sending shockwaves through the economy. As of late March, a Bain/Dynata weekly survey reported that nearly 60% of Americans had experienced cuts in pay or hours, layoffs, or closed their businesses because of the virus. The fallout of these losses creates an unprecedented situation for HR crisis management. Many businesses have transitioned their…

In years past, companies looked at contract work as a way to fill temporary voids. They used it for seasonal work, during leaves of absence, or as administrative support. For generations, contract workers have helped companies remain profitable and competitive, and their ranks are only set to increase in the coming years. Research from TrueBlue and Emsi suggests that hiring contract…

Business Resources At IES, we understand that these unprecedented times have put all businesses - small, medium or large – in complicated and unforeseen circumstances. Our goal is to provide resources to those in need amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are links to legislative updates on the most recent Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security…