Few employers have policies covering ‘non-traditional’ staff – Deloitte

Only 17% of UK companies have policies and strategies in place covering the use of ‘non-traditional’ labour, for example, freelancers, contractors and ‘gig’ staff, according to research from Deloitte. This is despite the fact that the use of such labour is increasing – for example, 42% of UK business leaders expect to see a rise in the use of contractors by 2020.

Only one in three HR teams assesses or manages the performance of non-traditional employees and slightly less than half (49%) provide any training for these employees. The research also suggests that the majority of business leaders expect new technologies such as AI and cognitive technology to have an impact on the composition of the workforce in their organisation. However, only 12% of organisations plan to train the current workforce to enable them to use such technology effectively.

Anne-Marie Malley, UK Human Capital Leader at Deloitte, says:

‘Businesses should work to give gig and contract workers clear performance goals, secure communication systems and the right amount of training and support to make them productive and aligned with the company’s strategy.’