By 2020, the Contingent Workforce will represent more than 45% of all workers – Are YOU prepared?

Accenture estimates (Forbes December 14, 2014) that the contingent workforce represents 33% of the total workforce today. Alex Chriss, vice president of accounting solutions provider Intuit, suggests that by 2020 this number will rise to 45%, a 36% increase.

To win the “War for Talent”, companies are fundamentally shifting their HR strategies and depending more on Contingent Staff, which includes temporaries, consultants, project professionals, independent contractors and statement of work (SOW) resources.

“Gone are the days when one stays at a single employer, as a full-time employee, for their entire career.”

As it relates to the accounting field, the demand for experienced and qualified accounting project consultants is growing at an unprecedented rate. With companies now in a constant state of change—whether technological, regulatory, organizational or a combination of all three—demand for accountants with specific skills and experience for specific projects has never been stronger.

The trend is clear: Gone are the days when one stays at a single employer, as a full-time employee, for their entire career. That’s all changed.

Are you prepared for the next decade and beyond?

In light of the trends, it would be a good idea for accounting professionals who are eyeing the consulting path to speak with a reputable staffing firm, or a career coach, for guidance on launching a new career in this field. As this paradigm shift in the growth of contingent staffing continues to gain momentum, it’s important that accounting professionals adapt to this changing world.

What will be needed now and in the future to maintain career momentum are trusted career advisors and expanded business networks. The number of new relationships continuously being formed between the business professional providing the services and the organization benefiting and paying for those services will increase.

As a result, the role of the trusted career advisor will become of the utmost importance to the accounting professional—not only to continually secure meaningful and challenging opportunities with fair compensation, but also to ensure that when issues due arise between the accounting professional and the company receiving and paying for the services, an experienced and reputable career advisor will be there to mitigate and resolve all issues in a mutually beneficial manner.

About the Author

Joe Taylor is the Managing Partner of IFG. Prior to joining IFG in 2003, he was a senior executive in the staffing industry with both NYSE and NASDAQ listed companies. Prior to joining the staffing industry he was a senior accounting executive with a $30B NYSE listed company.