Dive Brief:

• Slightly more than half of companies plan to increase their use of staffing firms over the next five years, according to the 2018 Staffing Buyer Study. Hiring managers surveyed said partnering with firms will help them to curb the hiring process and attract candidates with specialized skills, the report, from CareerBuilder, Inavero and the American Staffing Association, found. 
• The study revealed that 40% of employers keep their recruitment efforts in-house to save money. In addition to financial reasons, 28% of respondents said that they don't work with staffing agencies because the agencies don't hire for the types of positions needed. Slightly fewer respondents (26%) said they think the best candidates don't work with staffing agencies.
• In other key findings, the survey revealed that hiring managers' pain points include reaching candidates with the right skills (52%), time to hire (40%) and budget (34%). Two-thirds of hiring managers said they feel that using a staffing firm gives them access to the right candidates.

Dive Insight:

The talent shortage is so serious that it's HR's biggest challenge for 2019 and it has emerged as business leaders' top organizational risk. As employers search for the best methods to access the skilled talent they need, allowing time-strapped hiring managers to outsource their recruiting process may prove a helpful solution for businesses that can afford it.

Hiring contingent or gig workers is another strategy organizations are using to address the talent shortage. An ASA survey released in June found that staffing agencies employed a record number of temporary or contract workers. Access to highly skilled contingent workers allows employers to find the talent they need while adjusting their staffing levels to remain agile during labor market fluctuations.