Navigating the Transforming Workforce in 2025

As we wrap up the first quarter of 2025, businesses are contending with faster and more profound economic, geopolitical, and technological shifts than recent history recalls. Many organizations are struggling to keep up, especially when it comes to workforce strategy.

Drawing from extensive experience delivering workforce solutions to more than 130 organizations and over 200,000 contingent workers, Guidant Global helps employers mitigate risks and harness opportunities, no matter what external stressors arise.

As follow-up to my initial article on the top 7 workforce trends in 2025, this blog guides employers through strategies for seizing opportunities, addressing challenges, and mitigating risk in the rapidly changing world of work.

Protecting your business and preparing for the future

Businesses must evaluate and enhance their workforce strategies to achieve superior talent quality, cost savings, and efficiency while staying compliant with new laws, regulations, and policies. By taking the following steps, talent acquisition, procurement, and HR leaders will be on the right path to workforce optimization.

Start by assessing your current workforce mix

Begin by mapping where your talent resides, what their skills are, and what kinds of roles they have. Assessing your workforce mix and identifying where you can find lower-cost, higher-quality talent is crucial to meeting business goals. For example, if you have talent in offshore manufacturing or distribution facilities, tariffs could impact the cost of housing such talent there.

If there is a goods component to any products your business offers – such as light industrial and manufacturing companies and those reliant on tech hardware such as advanced chips – then employers should begin building out scenarios for how the tariffs could impact their bottom line and what can be done to mitigate those costs.

Simply put, if certain policies are creating higher talent demand and decreased supply, then the cost to procure talent will increase. Similarly, if the price of goods increases, workers might demand higher wages to compensate for the increased cost of products, thereby increasing the cost of talent.

Establish robust compliance and risk mitigation strategies

The nature of work is evolving at a faster pace than ever before. As the global talent economy takes on new ways of working (i.e., the Gig economy is outpacing all other worker categories), sound compliance and risk mitigation strategies are critical.

To address this, Guidant Global is engaging technologies that deliver fast, localized solutions, from interviewing and secure tech screening to end-to-end independent contractor compliance, AI-powered tools capture local rules, keeping our clients safe while allowing for efficient engagement of key talent.

Take a prescriptive approach to workforce strategy

There is no one-size-fits-all workforce solution that keeps costs low, talent quality high, and efficiency optimized, especially for complex global organizations. A tailored approach to workforce management will include considerations such as:

Long-term strategies for upskilling full-time and contingent workers
Near-term solutions for addressing talent shortages, including specialized contingent talent ("flexperts") and strategic offshoring
Comprehensive tenure policies for mitigating co-employment risk
Geographic resource allocation optimization
Targeted talent acquisition and retention programs
Opportunities for cost savings

Many organizations team up with a workforce management partner to assist with some or all of these initiatives.

Workforce Strategy Partner Checklist

By collaborating with a workforce strategy partner, organizations gain access to expertise that drives innovation, mitigates risk, and positions them for sustainable growth in our increasingly dynamic business environment. When considering a workforce strategy partner, be sure they have comprehensive expertise in the following areas:

Legal: Contract negotiations/management, employment law, labor regulations, and risk mitigation associated with contingent worker engagements
Implementation: Due diligence, process mapping, data collection, solution and VMS technology design/deployment, and change management
Communications: Customized communication capabilities for all user groups
Training: Training programs and materials tailored for each user group
Reporting and Analytics: Data analysis from proprietary and third-party platforms relative to program and supplier performance against established SLAs/KPIs and workforce planning
Market Research & Rate Analysis: Tracking and analysis of client operating markets and industries (e.g., labor rates, unemployment, and talent competition) for trend analysis, competitive rate identification, and workforce planning
VMS Technology: Data collection and vendor management system (VMS) technology management (configuration, integration, testing and ongoing maintenance)
Technology Helpdesk: Tech support for clients, suppliers, and project management office (PMO) teams
Marketing: Managed services provider (MSP) program branding and adoption campaigns
Financial Services: Tax validation, invoicing, and supplier settlement
Supplier Relationship Management: Supplier management, including identification/transition, on/offboarding, contracting, compliance, performance development, and corrective action
Diversity Program Management: Manages client-specific program diversity development and mentoring
Auditing and Compliance: Examination of supplier performance and auditing of required documentation to ensures program compliance
Quality: Ongoing oversight to ensure adherence to quality standards, program mandates, and industry best practices

If you’re looking for a workforce strategy partner to guide you through the rapidly shifting global business landscape, Guidant Global can help. No matter what challenges might come your way, our workforce solutions experts will help you achieve your business goals. Reach out today to learn how to position your organization for success in 2025 and beyond.