Need Speed, Expertise, and Coverage? Contract Talent Delivers All Three. | Caroline Burgreen, President & CEO

Here's a stat that caught my attention recently: 90% of companies missed their hiring targets in 2025.

Honestly, that number doesn't surprise me.

I've spent more than 15 years in recruiting and staffing, and I've watched this challenge play out the same way, year after year, with manufacturing and construction leaders in particular. They need people now, but traditional hiring timelines don't match the pace of their business. An open role sits vacant for weeks or months. Projects start falling behind. Overtime piles up. And the rest of the team ends up carrying the extra load.

Here's what those 15 years have taught me: the hiring process most companies rely on wasn't built for today's labor market. Many organizations need positions filled within days, sometimes even hours. Traditional direct-hire recruiting simply isn't designed to move that fast.

That's why this month, I want to talk about contract talent.

Early in my career, I'll admit I thought about temporary staffing the same way a lot of companies still do, as a backup plan, something you turn to only when direct hiring falls through. Experience has changed my mind, and I think it's time we looked at it differently.

The companies that stay ahead are the ones with more than one way to solve a workforce challenge. Sometimes a direct hire makes the most sense. Sometimes contract talent is exactly what the situation calls for.

Here's where I've seen it work best:

When seasonal demand drives production up and you need extra hands fast, without committing to headcount you won't need three months from now.

When multiple roles open up on the same team at once and you can't afford to leave every one of them vacant while you run a full search for each.

When you need coverage while you figure out what a long-term hire should actually look like. I've watched too many companies rush that decision because a role sat open too long, and end up hiring the wrong person for it. Contract talent buys you the time to get that call right, without losing productivity while you make it.

When you need specific expertise on a project and the right move is to bring in that skill set to work alongside your existing team, not add another line to the org chart.

I want to be clear about what I'm describing. This is contract talent, not temp-to-hire. I'm not talking about a trial run that's really just a longer interview for a permanent job. I'm talking about having a skilled resource in place for exactly as long as the organization needs, nothing more, nothing less.



The key is having options.

The Solution: Why Contract Talent Isn't a Backup Plan

One of the biggest misconceptions in the industry is that contract staffing only matters in an emergency.

The truth is, it can be one of the smartest workforce strategies available.

Start with the obvious benefit: speed.

When a critical position sits vacant, the costs add up quickly. Production slows. Deadlines get pushed. Overtime increases. The rest of the team feels the pressure. Waiting 30, 60, or 90 days for the perfect hire isn't always realistic when the work needs to get done today.

That's where contract talent comes in.

With the right staffing partner, skilled workers can often be identified, screened, and placed within days rather than weeks. That speed keeps operations moving while the search for a long-term hire continues.

But contract staffing is about more than filling emergency gaps. Employers regularly use contract talent to:

•      Support project-based work

•      Manage seasonal demand fluctuations

•      Bring in specialized expertise for a specific initiative

•      Maintain production while a direct-hire search continues

•      Evaluate whether additional headcount is truly needed

Another myth worth retiring: that contract workers are less experienced or less committed.

In reality, many skilled trades professionals choose contract work on purpose. Some value the flexibility. Others like working across different projects or industries. Many are highly experienced professionals who simply prefer a different way of working.

The companies that get the best results from contract talent tend to treat it like any other employment relationship. They provide proper onboarding, communicate expectations clearly, invest in training, and treat contract workers as part of the team.

That's where the real value comes in.

Contract staffing isn't a replacement for permanent hiring. It's an addition to it, another way to respond to changing workloads, unexpected absences, new projects, and growth opportunities without putting unnecessary strain on existing teams.

At Organa, that's exactly how we approach workforce solutions. We help clients find skilled people when they need them, and we build partnerships that work for both employers and workers.



Because in today's market, flexibility isn't just helpful. It's a competitive advantage.

Where we see this outside of work | Kelly Gerritse, Chief Operating Officer

Sometimes life reminds you that the best solution isn't always the one you originally planned for.

Several years ago, my family was living in South Carolina, far away from our relatives and support system. My husband had surprised me with tickets to a musical I had been wanting to see for months, and we were both looking forward to a rare night out.

We had a babysitter lined up for our one-year-old son, thanks to a recommendation from a friend. Everything was set.

Then, on the day of the show, the babysitter canceled.

Suddenly, we were scrambling. We had no family nearby, we couldn't exactly bring a one-year-old to a musical, and we were looking at losing a good amount of money on tickets we'd been excited about for weeks.

Fortunately, we had become friends with one of our neighbors, an older woman named Cindy.

We called her, explained the situation, and without hesitation she said yes.

Not only did Cindy save our date night, she had an absolute blast watching our son. She refused any payment and kept telling us how much she enjoyed it. Our son thought she was wonderful too. After that night, he wanted to visit her almost every day.

We've moved away since then, but Cindy is still a person we send pictures to on major holidays and make sure we touch base with regularly.

I've always thought about that experience when unexpected challenges come up. We started the day convinced we had one solution. When that plan fell through, someone else stepped in and ended up being exactly what we needed.

That's often how I think about contract talent.



It may not always be the first option that comes to mind, but sometimes the right person at the right time can make all the difference. Having flexibility and being open to different solutions can turn a stressful situation into a successful one.

Sources: GoodTime Hiring Trends Report 2025; Employ 2025 Time to Fill Data; Everee 2025 Manufacturing and Construction Workforce Study; American Staffing Association Contract Workforce Data; SHRM Cost of Vacancy Analysis; Staffing Industry Analysts Industry Report.