SIA recently published the 2024 update of the Workforce Solutions Buyer Survey report for the Americas region. In it, we look at what is happening at buyer firms (buyers of workforce solutions/staffing).

In the report, we break down buyer use by primary skill of contingent workers, and buyers primarily using contingent workers with IT skill sets constituted 48% of the 143 participants in the Americas region.

Remote work is certainly remaining popular in the world of IT staffing. Buyers using IT skill sets reported 60% of their contingent workers working remotely, compared to only 4% of contingent workers at buyers using industrial skills. Half expected IT contingent workers to be working remotely in two years.

Assignment lengths tend to be longer in IT staffing; 36% of respondents reported 18 to 23 months as the assignment length for IT talent. Only 11% of respondents reported assignment length less than one year.

Buyers of IT staffing usually see capped bill rates; the most common staffing agency rate structure among such firms is maximum bill rates — agency bill rates capped with respect to job title, agency or geography but candidate pay rates are flexible — used by 65% of these respondents.

IT staffing is not immune to automation; 14% of firms using IT talent reported having replaced contingent workers with automation, though this is less than the 27% at firms using industrial talent.

Finally, statement-of-work use is on the rise; 63% of buyers reported using SOW in their contingent workforce program, reaching a new high since we started measuring in 2011 (usage that year was 42%). This corresponds with the general increase in usage of SOW/IT services seen in IT staffing.

The Buyer Survey is open to all buyers once a year. From a staffing side, many anticipate the next iteration of our Pulse Survey this month. In it, we will see how IT staffing is trending going into the second quarter of the year. To participate, look for an invitation in the second week of month, or visit SIA’s surveys page.