Breaking down fragmentation across the contingent workforce

"The contingent workforce ecosystem is fragmented. We all know it. But I think people are confused about why."

When you look at a large enterprise contingent program today, you often see something like this: a VMS for staff aug visibility, an MSP managing the supplier base, a separate AOR provider for independent contractors, an EOR for employees in specific countries, SOW modules bolted onto existing systems, and hiring managers who've figured out ways to work around all of it when they're in a hurry.

It's messy. 

But here's what I want to push back on: this didn't happen because the people running these programs were bad at their jobs. It happened because each of those tools and relationships solved a real problem when they were introduced. 

The MSP solved the supplier chaos. The VMS brought visibility to staff aug spend. The AOR gave companies a way to engage contractors without taking on all the risk themselves.

Each piece made sense when it was added. The fragmentation that exists is a side effect of solving real problems, one at a time, over many years.

That context matters because it changes what the right solution looks like. You can't walk into an enterprise and say: "your infrastructure is broken, let us replace it." 

They've spent years and a significant budget building what they have. It works for something. And they're not going to blow it up on a pitch.

What they're actually looking for is something that fits in. Something that improves specific parts of the program without forcing them to change everything else. They want a supplier that's faster and cheaper, not a transformation project.

That's been our whole philosophy at Lifted. 

We don't want to replace your VMS. We don't want to compete with your MSP. We want to plug into your existing program as a supplier and make one part  or several parts of it significantly better. Onboarding us looks exactly like onboarding any other vendor. 

The difference shows up in the results.

I think the companies that will win in this space over the next decade are the ones that understand fragmentation isn't the enemy. The enemy is fragmentation without a path to consolidation. 

There's a difference.

When you look at your own program, what's the one layer of fragmentation you'd most want to simplify, and what's stopped you?

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