Companies increasingly consider external contributors to be a part of their workforce. But these work arrangements can introduce complex management challenges, given external workers' relative autonomy and a lack of coordinated management of internal and external talent. The authors describe a framework they have developed, based on three years of research conducted by MIT Sloan Management Review and Deloitte, to help leaders manage or orchestrate these workforce ecosystems.

Many executives are struggling to determine the extent to which they should integrate the management of employees and external contributors. The MIT SMR-Deloitte Future of the Workforce team looks at Cisco as a case example of one organization focused on a more strategic integration of its contingent workforce.