In the last 18 months a clear trend has emerged across industries. In-house Talent Acquisition (TA) and HR teams are taking greater ownership of contingent workforce hiring. Traditionally this responsibility sat firmly with procurement. Cost control, contract management, and compliance were the driving forces behind how contingent labour was managed. Businesses viewed the use of contractors as purchasing a service, however increasingly companies recognise they are purchasing the service of a person and are much more focussed on getting the work done, rather than how it is done. HR and TA naturally feel better positioned to manage this process and make it more people centric.
From Procurement to People-Led Strategy
Procurement’s involvement in contingent hiring has historically been rooted in efficiency, cost saving and risk reduction. Tasks such as negotiating rates, consolidating suppliers, and ensuring contractual risk was minimised. While these remain vital components, organisations are recognising that contingent workers are more than a cost centre. They’re often critical contributors to business growth, innovation, and operational flexibility.
That’s where TA and HR step in. These teams bring a people-first lens to hiring. They're focused on skills, engagement, culture fit, and long-term workforce planning. As more businesses blend permanent and contingent workforces into one talent strategy, ownership is naturally shifting to the functions best placed to drive talent outcomes not just cost savings.
Why TA Teams Want More Control
- Better Quality of Hire
TA teams are focused on skills, experience, and long-term potential even for short-term hires. By managing the end-to-end sourcing process, they can align contingent hiring with the same standards and employer brand values used in permanent recruitment. - Improved Candidate Experience
Contingent workers often have a fragmented or inconsistent journey when managed outside the HR function. TA teams are now embedding contingent recruitment into their broader strategy to deliver a more cohesive and engaging experience from application to onboarding. - Stronger Workforce Planning
With visibility across all hiring streams, TA can better forecast, and plan helping organisations avoid gaps in skills, prevent over-reliance on agencies, and build agile talent pools for future demand. - Employee and contractor value proposition
Ensuring all workers, contingent or otherwise, have a consistent view of the employer helps protect and promote the brand. At the same time, TA teams working in collaboration with HR and compliance can reduce misclassification risks and improve contractor engagement models.
The Role Procurement Still Plays
This shift doesn’t diminish procurement’s value. In fact, the most progressive organisations foster a close partnership between TA, HR, and procurement. Procurement continues to be vital in:
- Managing preferred supplier lists and neutral vendors
- Negotiating commercial terms
- Monitoring contract compliance and spend
- Mitigating legal and financial risk
The key is collaboration, not competition.
The Future: Total Talent Management
We’re seeing a convergence toward Total Talent Management, an approach that unifies permanent, contingent, freelance, and outsourced hiring under one strategic lens. In this model, TA and HR take the lead on workforce planning and candidate experience, while procurement ensures commercial discipline and governance.
Organisations who embrace this model are already reaping the rewards: faster access to skills, better visibility of their workforce, improved DE&I outcomes, and a more compelling proposition for all types of workers.
Conclusion
As the boundary between permanent and contingent workers continues to blur, the case for Talent Acquisition ownership grows stronger. To stay competitive, businesses must empower their TA teams to lead with support from HR and procurement and build a more agile, people-centric contingent workforce strategy.