Discover how global leaders are using blended, agile workforce strategies to boost flexibility, close skill gaps and drive business transformation
Katie Obi, chief people officer at technology company OneAdvanced, sees the future of work evolving in real time. “I anticipate that over time there will be a move from introducing AI use cases to aid human productivity (for example, AI assisted workflows) to agentic AI with human oversight (for example human assisted workflows).”
This shift reflects a broader transformation across industries: businesses are moving beyond rigid workforce models to create dynamic, skills-based ecosystems that blend full-time employees, contingent workers, freelancers and AI-powered automation.
A new whitepaper, Unlocking Unseen Talent, produced by The People Space in partnership with workforce planning company Matrix, reveals how leading organisations are implementing this blended workforce model to drive efficiency, resilience and growth.
Many organisations face persistent skills shortages. According to Manpower Group 76% of employers report difficulty filling roles due to a lack of skilled talent. At the same time more than 28.3 million people were working on digital platforms in the EU in 2022, and the European Council expects 43 million people to be working in the platform economy across the EU. Research by online freelance platform Malt finds that 62% of highly-educated freelancers in Europe are satisfied with self-employment and are not interested in returning to full-time employment.
Matrix CEO Mark Inskip notes: “Traditional workforce models, built around permanent employees, no longer provide the flexibility or speed required to meet evolving demands. Instead, organisations must embrace agility – bringing together full-time employees, contingent workers, freelancers, gig talent and even AI to create a truly blended workforce.”
How leading organisations are implementing the blended workforce
Cisco: A large-scale blended workforce in action
With more than 50,000 contingent workers alongside its 83,000 employees Cisco exemplifies the complexity of managing a truly blended workforce. Having grown rapidly through acquisitions the company’s business units often operated independently, with contingent workers managed separately from permanent staff. This fragmented approach led to inefficiencies, including long-term contractors costing more than full-time employees due to agency markups.
To address these challenges Cisco began developing a unified contingent workforce strategy. A key move was the creation of a cross-functional steering committee comprising senior leaders from HR, finance, IT, operations and business units. This group was tasked with aligning policies and providing strategic oversight to standardise contingent workforce practices across the company.
Recognising that legacy systems couldn’t support a global, integrated approach, Cisco partnered with a specialist vendor to implement a configurable technology platform designed specifically for contingent workforce management.
Equally important was cultural alignment. With diversity, equity and inclusion at the forefront Cisco focused on pay equity and partnering with staffing providers who support its DEI goals, while also navigating varied global labour laws.
Cisco’s experience highlights how starting with contingent workforce integration can lay the groundwork for managing the broader workforce ecosystem, reducing inefficiencies, ensuring compliance and enabling more agile and strategic workforce planning across organisational boundaries.
According to Deloitte and MIT Sloan more than 90% of respondents to their global executive survey agree that their workforce includes external contributors. Cisco’s approach reflects this, creating a seamless experience for all workers regardless of contract type.
The role of AI in workforce planning at OneAdvanced
At OneAdvanced the blended workforce strategy is powered by data and driven by AI. The company takes a holistic, ecosystem view of talent, aligning workforce planning directly with business strategy. For chief people officer Katie Obi and HR leaders this starts with a deep understanding of the organisation’s long-term goals and mapping the skills, processes and workflows needed to achieve them.
AI plays a critical role in helping OneAdvanced assess current skills across the organisation and identify future needs. By integrating data sources like sales pipelines and delivery backlog the company can anticipate talent gaps early. From there, AI tools help determine the most effective way to close these gaps, whether through recruitment, upskilling, automation, partnerships or contingent talent.
This agile approach to talent planning allows OneAdvanced to flex its workforce as business needs evolve. It also provides greater transparency for employees, giving them insight into the skills that will shape their careers. The company emphasises fairness and accountability in the use of AI, especially in recruitment and workforce decisions, ensuring that algorithms are free from bias. The company has an AI Steering Committee to oversee how AI-driven systems enhance productivity and talent deployment.
By embedding systems thinking and AI into workforce strategy OneAdvanced is enabling its people function to lead transformation, building a more responsive, capable and competitive organisation. The result is a truly modern approach to workforce design, where technology and human insight combine to power business execution.
AI is already reshaping hiring and workforce management. A study by IBM Institute for Business Value finds that those that use AI to a significant extent for personalised responses and follow-up actions in customer services alone expect to increase their usage by 236% over the next 12 months while in operational areas with vast amounts of data where decisions require human oversight, such as supply planning, 54% plan to augment their employees.
The challenges of the blended workforce
A blended workforce introduces the risk of cultural divides between permanent and contingent staff. The Wolseley Hospitality Group has worked to counter this by ensuring that gig and freelance workers have access to the same learning and development opportunities as permanent employees.
Janene Pretorius, group director of people and culture at Wolseley, explains: “Bringing in different talent on different terms and expectations brings flexibility, but also has the potential to cause tension with permanent teams. “For fulltime team members it can be challenging because they have to work around other people’s requests. You have to have a balance.”
Compliance is another big challenge. Complex regulations, tax implications and reputational concerns demand constant attention. Many organisations struggle with inconsistent processes and fragmented supplier management when it comes to contingent talent. This complexity can lead to inefficiencies and, worse, compliance risks that carry serious financial and reputational consequences.
Nevertheless, organisations that successfully integrate full-time employees, contingent workers and AI will gain a strategic advantage in today’s talent-scarce market. This isn’t about quick fixes. It’s about building a resilient, skills-based workforce that adapts to business needs in real time.
To explore these insights further, download the full Unlocking Unseen Talent: Leveraging the Blended Workforce and AI for the Future of Work whitepaper and see how leading businesses are transforming their workforce strategies for long-term success.