From seasonal employees to specialized contract workers, employment of contingent workers has dramatically increased in recent years. With 46% of businesses adding contingent workers in 2015, this workforce has proven to be resourceful, necessary, and here to stay.  While there are clear benefits to this type of employment, there are also major security risks if the access of these employees is not properly managed.

I recently attended Retail’s BIG Show conference and started up a conversation with an IT staffer of a regional retail chain. Over the course of our conversation he shared with me that it was his company’s corporate policy to provide a single, shared password for his store’s workers. From the store manager to the shelving stockers, they were all using the same password.

Contingent workers are here to stay. In fact, in a recent report, CareerBuilder claimed that 2015 was the Year of the Temporary Employee, with 46% of businesses adding temporary workers, up from 42% in 2014. That number is expected to rise even more this year in what seems to be a continuous upward trend.

Technology continues to be a driving force in education. Children as young as preschool age are using tablets in school, teachers are constantly brainstorming new ways to modernize their classrooms with educational apps, and IT personnel are under increasing pressure to ensure this ever-evolving digital environment is secure. By implementing a next-generation identity and access management solution school districts have the opportunity to effectively and efficiently regulate these transitions.

Automated De-Provisioning is More Important Than Ever!

Workforce reductions aren’t a pleasant topic that anyone ever wants to discuss, yet they’re a part of business that most organizations must face at some point.

If that time should come for your organization, remember, this isn’t only an HR issue. IT must also be prepared to deal with workforce reductions because they can leave your organization vulnerable to internal threats.

We’re honored and happy to announce that our work with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) has been named a finalist for the 2016 Info Security Global Excellence Awards in the Best Deployments and Case Studies category. What an exciting way to kick off 2016.

The full-time salaried position is no longer the dominant worker classification that it was in the 1990s or even 2000s. More and more companies, focused on cutting costs, are employing contingent workers to avoid paying taxes and healthcare benefits on those workers. And more and more workers, led by millennials, are seeking contingent-based employment, desiring the flexibility and freedom that comes with those positions. This new economy we live in, defined by technology, sharing and innovation, is changing how we work.

You may be working alongside one of them and not even realize it: a substitute teacher, an adjunct professor, or a special education contractor. They’re all contingent workers - employees hired for a time period of one year or less with a specific end date; they could be full-time or part-time. Over the past decade, a trend has emerged in academia of these contingent workers being hired, and we’ve seen it accelerate at an increasingly high rate over the past few years.

Photo by Ludovic Bertron

James Bond is known for impeccable taste in clothes, cars and cocktails. Not to mention, cool gadgets and tricks up his sleeve like wristwatch lasers and passenger ejector seats. Along with the style and grace, keeping data safe and intelligence top secret is still top of mind for Bond.