DEI & the Contingent Workforce

Rising Priority of DEI for Contingent Workers

DEI continues to be a top priority and point of discussion across countries, industries and companies. These discussions include a focus on contingent workers as well. Having a strong DEI program and strategy in place means the possible employment of people with diverse skills and capabilities can strengthen companies’ capacity to innovate. Good DEI strategies are vital for boosting employee engagement, increasing competitive advantage and establishing or nurturing an accepting and inclusive work environment that thrives in and celebrates individual differences.

During the pandemic and its aftermath, contingent workers have become more commonplace, with contingent workers making up around 50% of the workforce for some organisations. As contingent workers kept businesses running and boosted diversity as well due to the flexible nature of contingent work, DEI is fast becoming a top priority; however, programs and initiatives are still lacking for the contingent workforce.

Currently, two factors are seen to be inhibiting the development of DEI initiatives for the contingent workforce; lacking experience or knowledge regarding the integration of contingent workers across different contract types and legal issues surrounding co-employment. There is also little to no conversation surrounding the circumstances and difficulties of contingent and contract workers, thus also resulting in the lack of DEI for these types of talent. However, as DEI continues to be a business priority it is increasingly vital that companies develop programs and initiatives for contingent workers as well.

Reports show that DEI is important not just for the general workforce and potential hires, but more so for the contingent workforce. Organisations are fast realising that because contingent workers drive diversity and help level gender gaps towards more inclusive workplaces, attraction and retention are vital for this category of workers as well and one of the main ways to achieve this is to implement DEI measures.