[Solution] Knowledge Workers and Contingent Workers
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Author: Emily Carter
Two prominent trends in human resource management today are the increasing numbers of knowledge workers and contingent workers. Many HRM processes apply to these employees in the same way they apply to other employees, but these members of the organization require special handling in certain respects.
Knowledge Workers
Knowledge workers primarily use the information in their heads and their cognitive skills to do their jobs. Examples of knowledge workers include software developers, engineers, and scientists. These employees typically have extensive, highly specialized training, which they need to maintain to stay current in their field.
Demand for knowledge workers continues to increase, meaning that pay for these jobs also keeps increasing. The wage level within an organization is likely to increase at the same rate as the labor market as a whole. Therefore, to retain these employees, an organization may need to increase the pay for their jobs more than for other jobs.
Select the term that best completes the following sentence.
An employee who is not in a full-time, permanent status is a .
View Explanation
Contingent workers are all the employees who are do not have full-time, permanent status. Using a contingent workforce allows an organization flexibility in the deployment of human resources and can be a highly effective HR strategy.
Match each consideration with the type of worker it applies to:
Pay is increasing rapidly.
Workforce planning is especially important for the organization to use employees effectively.
View Explanation
Knowledge workers are in high demand, so organizations need to pay a premium to attract and retain them.
Contingent workers give the organization flexibility, but that flexibility can breed chaos if managers do not plan for how and when they will use these employees.
