Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • November–December 2020
  • Article
  • Harvard Business Review

Rethinking the On-Demand Workforce

By: Joseph B. Fuller, Manjari Raman, Allison Bailey and Nithya Vaduganathan
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

As companies struggle with chronic skills shortages and changing labor demographics, a new generation of talent platforms, offering on-demand access to highly trained workers, has begun to help. These platforms include marketplaces for premium expertise (such as Toptal and Catalant), for freelance workers (Upwork and 99designs), and for crowdsourcing innovation (Kaggle and InnoCentive). Almost all Fortune 500 firms use such platforms. But most do so in an ad hoc, inefficient way, according to a Harvard Business School/BCG study. Companies need to get much more strategic about their engagement with talent platforms and fully embrace their ability to increase labor force flexibility, speed time to market, and facilitate business model innovation. That will require rewiring policies and processes and redefining working norms. Most important, leaders must inspire the cultural shift needed to realize the platforms’ transformative potential.

Keywords

Talent Acquisition; Platforms; Skilled Labor Recruitment; Gig Economy; Talent And Talent Management; Selection And Staffing; Online Technology; Strategy

Citation

Fuller, Joseph B., Manjari Raman, Allison Bailey, and Nithya Vaduganathan. "Rethinking the On-Demand Workforce." Harvard Business Review 98, no. 6 (November–December 2020): 96–103.
  • Find it at Harvard

About The Author

Joseph B. Fuller

General Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • Harvard Business School Working Knowledge

    Why a Blended Workforce May Be Key to Lasting Competitive Advantage

    By: Joseph B. Fuller
    • 2020
    • Faculty Research

    Building the On-Demand Workforce

    By: Joseph B. Fuller, Manjari Raman, Allison Bailey and Nithya Vaduganathan
    • The Hill

    The Pay-off for a Prestigious College Degree Is Smaller Than You Think

    By: Frederick M. Hess and Joseph B. Fuller
More from the Authors
  • Why a Blended Workforce May Be Key to Lasting Competitive Advantage By: Joseph B. Fuller
  • Building the On-Demand Workforce By: Joseph B. Fuller, Manjari Raman, Allison Bailey and Nithya Vaduganathan
  • The Pay-off for a Prestigious College Degree Is Smaller Than You Think By: Frederick M. Hess and Joseph B. Fuller
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College