Only 1 in 10 firms have policies for gig economy workers

12% of bosses said they have no plans to implement related policies soon.

Only one in 10 organisations in Singapore have processes and policies in place to manage the contingent workforce in the next six months, according to a survey by KellyOCG Asia-Pacific. 12% of C-suite leaders in the city said they do not plan to implement policies for contingent workers.

Singapore showed the biggest growth in organisations with contingent workers comprising at least 30% of their workforce across Asia Pacific, with almost two in five or 38% in 2019, from 8% in 2017.

Almost four in five or 78% of C-suite leaders in the city plans to include contingent workers in their talent pool. Seven in 10 believe that mid-level positions will see the most growth for contingent workers.

In addition, 43% said that they engage in measures to integrate contingent workers into their workforce, like training. Over nine in 10 or 91% felt that some of their best talents were found through the contingent workforce.

However, Singapore businesses saw the largest drop in the confidence in HR, with only 26% engaging HR at the start of business strategy development from 56% last year. It also scored the lowest in the region which has an average of 34%.

Across the region, a third or 33% of organisations surveyed have 30% of their total workforce composed of contingent workers, from 20% in 2017. Nearly three in five (58%) partner with contingent workers to increase talent supply and tackle talent shortages.

Contingent workers include freelancers, independent contractors, micropreneurs, small-business owners and temporary or contract workers.

The study surveyed over 200 C-suite level executives across Singapore, Australia, India and Malaysia from banking and financial services, business consulting, information technology, engineering and architecture, healthcare and medical services industries.