At the University of California (UC), we rely on a dynamic workforce to power everything from groundbreaking research to exceptional student services and world-class healthcare. But hiring and managing temporary staff to meet these evolving needs has historically been complex, time-consuming, and costly.
That’s why UC is pursuing the benefits of a strategic workforce solution—a strategic shift in which a third-party Managed Service Provider (MSP) is engaged to manage the sourcing, onboarding, administration, payment and off boarding of temporary workers, contractors, and other ‘non-permanent’ or ‘non-employees’ across the system. This approach offers a streamlined, flexible, and cost-effective way to ensure we have the right talent, exactly when we need it, while maintaining compliance and reducing administrative burdens.
How a Managed Contingent Workforce Program Works
Instead of departments scrambling to find short-term hires, the managed service provider (MSP) oversees the entire lifecycle of contingent workforce management:
- Sourcing & Recruitment – Identifies and vets candidates from a broad talent pool
- Onboarding & Training – Ensures workers are ready to contribute from day one
- Compliance Management – Mitigates risks related to employment laws, taxes, and contract terms
- Performance Oversight – Tracks worker effectiveness and resolves issues quickly
- Payroll & Payments – Handles all compensation, invoicing, and reimbursements
- Workforce Analytics – Provides real-time reporting on workforce utilization and costs.
Why This Matters for UC
A fully managed contingent workforce program isn’t just about efficiency—it’s a strategic advantage for UC. Here’s what it means for our campuses and medical centers:
- Cost Savings & Budget Efficiency – Avoids unnecessary contingent labor spending, allowing departments to allocate resources toward mission-critical initiatives.
- Increased Flexibility – Easily scales staffing up or down based on research needs, student enrollment fluctuations, or seasonal demands.
- Improved Compliance & Risk Management – Reduces the risk of worker misclassification, labor law violations, and audit penalties.
- Preserving Campus Autonomy – Ensures individual UC locations can still work with trusted staffing suppliers while improving oversight and transparency.
- Better Hiring & Retention – Attracts top-tier temporary talent while ensuring fair pay, streamlined hiring, and a seamless experience for workers and departments alike.
Making an Impact
Below are several hypothetical challenges with potential solutions that illustrate how a Managed Service Provider (MSP) could help design and execute a strategic workforce solution:
1. Centralized Talent Acquisition Across All Campuses
- Challenge: UC’s 10 campuses recruit separately, creating inefficiencies, inconsistent processes, and a fragmented candidate experience.
- Potential MSP Solution: Implement one Vendor Management System (VMS) to gain visibility into all labor requests. Consolidate UC’s supplier network and rank vendors by performance. Provide a common candidate screening, compliance, and onboarding structure.
2. Workforce Compliance & Policy Governance
- Challenge: UC must maintain compliance across a wide range of labor-related regulations.
- Potential MSP Solution: Create a UC-wide compliance framework ensuring every contingent worker meets required certifications, background checks, and policy training.
3. Cost Optimization & Savings Strategies
- Challenge: Hiring costs vary significantly across UC campuses, with duplicated contract negotiations and inconsistent rates.
- Potential MSP Solution: Consolidate and renegotiate staffing contracts systemwide. Introduce standardized rate cards by role, location, and skill level. Implement a managed direct-sourcing program, to reduce agency markups.
What's Next?
By adopting a fully managed strategic workforce solution, UC can streamline hiring, enhance workforce agility, and ensure compliance—all while allowing our faculty, researchers, and staff to focus on what they do best, instead of HR duties.
UC Systemwide Procurement has issued a competitively bid MSP Solution RFP and is now in the final stages of vendor selection with engagement of stakeholders from across UC for the program rollout in 2026.