The global coronavirus pandemic has created immense pressure for procurement teams to cut costs and manage workforces, but redeploying staff could help solve both challenges, according to leading MSP and talent acquisition specialist, Guidant Global.

Now more than ever, procurement leaders need to manage a delicate balance between streamlining finances and managing workforce supply. With a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll revealing that confidence in the economy has flipped, with 76% of respondents now rating the economic situation in the U.S. as fair or poor, procurement leaders are attempting to cut budgets fast.

However, with State Governors facing growing pressure to ease lockdown restrictions, businesses across the U.S. need to ensure they have the staffing resources available for an uptick in work. In order to achieve this in light of the effects of COVID-19, procurement teams will need to pool company-wide resources and ensure that now, more than ever, contingent and permanent employees are being strategically managed.

Commenting on the need to re-evaluate staffing streams and redeploy workers during these difficult times, Brian Salkowski, COO at Guidant Global, said:

“Strategic Workforce Planning is challenging enough in normal climates, but in this current environment of uncertainty, it’s a procurement nightmare. There’s no guarantee that workers will be available to jump back into their job remotely when the company needs them to, meaning that procurement leaders need to have a vast bank of resources to hand in order to help businesses get back up and running as soon as they can.”

“A crucial element of supporting this is looking at where existing staff can be redeployed, whether these are contingent or permanent workers. With more organizations embracing remote working out of simple necessity at the moment, it’s entirely feasible that cross-State resources can be pulled in to help meet demand where they perhaps weren’t considered before. And where contingent workers are coming to a natural end in their placement in one area of the company, having the processes in place to redeploy them to other business critical roles rather than lose them all-together will have a hugely positive impact on budgets.”

“Added to this challenge, of course, is the growing fear among the population that business as usual operations will begin too soon. The Wall Street Journal / NBC News poll also revealed that nearly six in ten feared restrictions would be lifted too early. This means that while organizations may be ready to re-open, staff might not be available to work, making redeployment of those resources that are available a critical objective.”