The 2024 Workforce Solutions Buyer Survey report is a must-read for contingent workforce program managers and other staffing and workforce solutions buyers. It helps them compare their firm’s metrics and benchmarks with others. However, it also behooves staffing companies to read up on how buyers are using their services.

You can see NPS and average scores in the chart “Net Promoter Scores”.

There’s also an interesting point about the NPS ratings from buyers: Those that consider their contingent workforce programs cutting edge — “leaders” — gave their staffing suppliers a positive NPS of 24. In contrast, “laggards,” which don’t see their programs as leading edge, have a negative NPS of 45. That’s a difference of 69 points!

Staffing suppliers actually have the highest NPS compared to other suppliers to contingent workforce programs, which highlights how dissatisfied buyers are overall with their staffing and technology partners.

Strategic Plans

We also ask buyers about their use of different workforce strategies every year, including “trying out new staffing suppliers.” As seen in the accompanying chart, 27% of buyers used this strategy back in 2011; in 2024, nearly twice as many, 53%, indicate such plans. 

Staffing suppliers looking for new business would benefit from knowing buyers are not giving resounding support to their current suppliers and are increasingly open to try new suppliers. At the same time, it’s worth noting that the top workforce strategy in this year’s survey was “consolidation of staffing suppliers” (68% of buyers had this in place)!

Automation

The survey also explores the impact of automation. 

In the staffing industry, commercial skill sets are expected to be replaced by automation at a higher rate, but professional skills are also being affected. 

As expected, 27% of companies using industrial skills reported those workers as being replaced by automation, the highest of any primary skill set. However, IT is not that far behind, with 14% of companies using IT skills reporting automation replacing contingent workers. Warehouse, manufacturing and call center roles are ripe for automation, and yet IT roles such as ticketing might also be replaced.

Remote work trends also vary between commercial and professional skill sets. 

The survey shows that 60% of buyers using IT skill sets have contingent workers working remotely now, and 50% expect this to continue in two years. On the other hand, industrial skill sets, which are harder to do remotely, have only 4% working remotely now and 5% expected in two years. Industrial work is thus likely to remain largely in person.

Priorities

Lastly, the survey highlights the top priorities for buyers’ contingent workforce programs in 2024: reducing/controlling costs (17%) and filling open positions with top-quality talent (13%). Notably, reducing reliance on agency temps is far down on the list, cited by just 2% of respondents.

This aligns with the current market environment, where companies face uncertainty and more drawn-out hiring processes. They aim to cut costs while still finding the right contingent workers to fill their talent gaps. Staffing companies that can provide critical talent while being mindful of budget constraints will benefit.

By considering the insights available in the Workforce Solutions Buyer Survey report and the broader market environment, staffing companies can better understand what actions they need to take to meet market demand for talent while keeping their buyers satisfied.