As businesses try to cut costs, increase profits, and become overall more efficient one of the things more and more companies are turning to are contingent workforce solutions, independent contractor solutions, and procurement processes. Many organizations find that by outsourcing, or sub-contracting certain aspects of their business they can get the same level of production for less costs. Currently, 40.4% of the U.S. workforce is made up of contingent workers, according to a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. It also allows them to focus more on the areas that are most important to the actual product or service they provide.

The month of October was a relatively busy time for the contingent workforce industry that saw multiple companies introduce workforce management solutions and new talent acquisition strategies, according to procurement research and news source SpendMatters.com. Depending on which side of the workforce you’re on you might find any one of these three services useful.

1.) Global Talent Cloud (ZeroChaos): ZeroChaos launched this new service for talent sourcing and engagement solutions. While it is similar to other “talent cloud pools” that act essentially as storage spaces for contingent workers looking for work, it’s innovative in that it uses learning algorithms to create predictive models that identify best-fit candidates for clients.

2.) ProFinder Pilot (LinkedIn): Most people are aware of LinkedIn’s online, social media-type recruiting platform, but they released this new software that focuses on connecting freelancers to local businesses. It takes U.S. employers 25 days on average to hire someone to fill a position. Many believe LinkedIn’s first move into the contingent workforce space could have a huge impact reducing this rate.

“If LinkedIn continues to roll in this direction, this is a development that could make big waves in the online freelancer platform space and could significantly alter the growing freelancer/independent workforce market,” said Andrew Karpie, Spend Matters analyst.

3.) Intuit/Stride Health Partnership: While this isn’t a new service for finding or hiring independent workers, it is equally important to the workers themselves. This new partnership will allow freelancers that use Intuit a new opportunity to obtain health insurance and manage healthcare costs.

These new services will help to move the entire industry forward in an easier and more efficient manner. Considering 90% of firms already employ some type of freelance or contracted talent, it’s possible that number could increase with these new means.