Elastic Workforces: The Key to Organisational Resilience
AI is moving faster than anyone can keep up. Not even the people building it know exactly what’s coming next. ChatGPT, Grok and Llama versions are dropping like dominoes, and each one is more powerful than the last. We’re not inching toward the future, we’re sprinting into it.
For many service-based businesses, this creates a particular kind of challenge. The planning cycles we’ve relied on - workforce strategies, remuneration models, even basic resourcing assumptions - aren’t built for this level of volatility. By the time a new policy or strategy is signed off, it’s likely irrelevant.
That doesn’t mean we abandon structure. But it does mean we need to rethink what workforce resilience looks like in practice.
Let’s start with the obvious: fee-for-service models are on borrowed time.
Generative AI is already disrupting how work is delivered - and priced. The value of pure execution is declining. What’s rising in relevance is synthesis: deep subject matter expertise, systems thinking, and the ability to hold ambiguity without flinching.
The workforce models of the last decade - built around full-time roles, linear careers, and fixed costs - don’t match the work we’re asking people to do now. Or the conditions we’re asking them to do it in.
This isn’t about swinging to the other extreme and pretending every workplace should be fully decentralised and asynchronous. That’s not realistic,ethical or helpful. What’s needed is something more grounded:
An understanding of where a business is in its evolution.
A knowledge of its people, culture, and industry context.
A practical path toward flexibility, without sacrificing coherence.
The word “agility” has been overused to the point of meaninglessness. But if we cut through the jargon, the core idea still holds: businesses need the ability to adapt quickly, without losing themselves in the process.
That starts with workforce design. Not just headcount planning, but rethinking what a sustainable, resilient talent model looks like. For many, it won’t be a traditional pyramid. It’ll be a core team supported by a flexible layer of expertise—people who can be brought in as needed, without the administrative weight of permanent contracts.
This isn’t a new idea. But it is becoming essential.
Annualised hours. Permalance. Talent benches. These aren’t just HR buzzwords—they’re viable structures that allow businesses to hold both stability and adaptability.
None of this is about chasing trends. It’s about building capacity. For fluctuation. For ambiguity. For change that’s already in motion.
Recently, I supported a public holding group through a complex liquidation process. It was a confronting chapter for the organisation—but also a moment of clarity. When you’re forced to examine every part of your model, you quickly see what’s essential and what’s no longer fit for purpose. It reinforced for me that resilience isn’t a slogan—it’s something you build into your structure long before things get tough.
The businesses that will hold their ground over the next five years won’t be the ones with the boldest vision statements or the flashiest digital roadmaps. They’ll be the ones with the structural resilience to respond—quietly, quickly, and without drama.
And that starts with rethinking how we work, who we hire, and how we build with technology.