MSP, VMS Companies Now Manage One-third of Global Temporary Staffing Labor

Managed service providers (MSPs) and vendor management systems (VMS) now manage about one-third of global temporary staffing labor. The findings are discussed in the new annual VMS and MSP Competitive Landscape report from Staffing Industry Analysts.

The report focuses on the use of managed services and technology for managing contingent or temporary labor. It finds that use of this type of labor is growing in both small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) as well as large corporations. Contingent labor is especially appealing in an uncertain economy, as it lets organizations remain flexible in their workforce planning.

MSP Allegis Group Services is the biggest player in the contingent workforce arena, spending $8.3 billion under management. Fieldglass came in with the largest spend under management in the VMS sector, at $27.4 billion. Other big players include TAPFIN, for the hybrid MSP, temp/contract and vendor-neutral categories and Beeline, which topped the category for outsourced spending through a VMS.

"Among survey participants, we are seeing more SOW spend running through a VMS (up 21 percent globally, from $18.9 billion to $21.9 billion) and also managed by an MSP (up 27 percent globally to $8 billion)," said Tony Gregoire, Staffing Industry Analysts' research manager.

Statement of Work (SOW) arrangements are defined by Staffing Industry Analysts as workers who are given a regular, consistent salary by an employer, in contrast to a temporary worker assigned by an agency. These workers continue to receive their salary for off-project assignments, and the SOW captures the total work products and services. This may include work activities, deliverables and a timeline, which is supplied under a contract or as part of a project.

SOW resources are managed by MSPs and VMS providers, with the total spend under management at more than $100 billion globally. That number continues to grow, according to Staffing Industry Analysts, as it approaches the market estimate for global temporary agency staffing labor, which is currently around $327 billion.