A survey by VMS provider SAP Fieldglass and Oxford Economics found that 65% of executives say their external workforce is essential for operating at full capacity.  Further, 46% said they would not be able to conduct business as usual without it.

The survey included 800 executives across 14 countries representing director level and above and coming from procurement, HR/talent management, IT and finance functions at companies with revenue of more than $500 million.

The survey asked, "How important is the external workforce in meeting the following business goals?" Those responding “Important” and “very important":

• Developing or improving products and services, 68%
• Increasing speed to market, 66%
• Operating at full capacity/meeting market demands, 65%
• Increasing organizational agility, 64%
• Achieving sustainability goals/shrinking our carbon footprint, 62%
• Managing costs, 60%
• Reducing risk, 54%

In addition, 62% say their external workforce improves their company’s’ overall financial performance.

“Despite the increasingly strategic nature of the external workforce and its importance at the core of business today, the visibility into this talent remains limited,” SAP Fieldglass President Rob Brimm said. “The C-suite could be doing more to maximize the return businesses realize from their external workforce.”

Executives reported roughly 44% of overall workforce spend represents external workers.

“Our research points to a small group of companies, the pacesetters, who demonstrate markedly superior performance than their peers in their ability to manage and extract value from their external workforce,” Brimm said.