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Optimize the Workforce Mix for Strategic Impact

Address talent gaps strategically with build, buy, borrow, and automate decisions.

  • As AI accelerates change, skill gaps widen, and workforce demographics shift, the assumptions underpinning traditional workforce models no longer hold. To remain agile, organizations must adopt a different approach to their workforce mix.
  • Due to internal pressures, such as the urgency to fill roles quickly, or external pressures, such as a competitive labor market, organizations are often reactive in build, buy, borrow, and automate decisions.
  • Only 42% of organizations are substantially/extremely effective in defining build, buy, borrow, automate strategies (APQC, 2026).

Executive Summary

Critical Insight

The right workforce mix doesn’t happen by accident. Organizations that move beyond reactive hiring and make clear trade‑offs across role context, resources, and risk are better positioned to control headcount, strengthen talent readiness, and evolve with changing work and technology.

Impact & Result

  • Optimize talent costs while strengthening workforce decisions through clearer trade-offs across build, buy, borrow, and automate options (IMD).
  • Enhance workforce agility to provide a competitive advantage to switch between workforce approaches depending on the situation (Conference Board).
  • Influence greater innovation by bringing together different talent, skills, and perspectives to accelerate the creation of new ideas and solutions.

Research & Tools

2. Evaluate workforce mix options

Examine factors that drive workforce mix and validate the proposed workforce mix.

3. Implement the workforce mix decision

Create an implementation plan.

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