The Blended Workforce: Insights from Microsoft, NASA, and Airbus

The U.S. is projected to have 86.5 million freelancers in 2027 — a solid half of the country's workforce. Increasing reliance on freelancers is already visible today, and many HR executives are actively preparing for a blended workforce, with non-traditional employees integrated into teams of full-timers.

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The transition to the blended workforce model creates new challenges for managers. They need not only to create cohesion within mixed teams, but also to learn to manage people with different types of subordination. And keeping company data secure while working with freelancers is its own can of worms.

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In this article, we’ll look at the experience of major companies that have already successfully implemented mixed workforces: Microsoft, NASA, and Airbus. We’ll focus on how their change leaders managed to integrate freelancers and fine-tune the management of blended teams.

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Microsoft: customer support in every corner of the globe 

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Nuri Demirci Lopez, a principal product manager at Microsoft 365, oversaw the blending of Microsoft's customer support team with freelancers and contractors. The team now employs more than 900 people around the world. Lopez says the strategy has been remarkably effective, with cost savings of 50% in EMEA.

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According to Lopez, success in working with freelancers depends on approaching things strategically at all stages, starting with recruitment.

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Key aspects to consider at each stage, per Nuri Demirci Lopez:

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• Attracting talent

• Strong employer brand
• Competitive pay 
• Clear descriptions of tasks and working conditions
• Comprehensive health and wellness benefits
• Networking and building relationships with freelancers 

• Retaining talent

• Support and resources
• Professional development opportunities
• Feedback and recognition
• Long-term partnership through proposing new projects

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He also reminds us not to overlook legal aspects: always comply with local labor laws and clearly spell out all terms of employment in writing.

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NASA: crowdsourcing will take us to the moon

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Steve Rader is a program manager who has led NASA's Tournament Lab (NTL) since 2010. From 2011 to 2020, the lab launched 300 innovative projects with freelance specialists and saw savings in 80% of its crowdsourced projects. 

NASA is applying the blended workforce model to its core business, contracting with 32 online platforms that give it access to 70 million remote freelancers.

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Key benefits of the blended workforce, according to Steve Rader

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• Cutting-edge skills

Keeping your in-house employees on top of new techniques and technologies requires constant upskilling. With freelancers, though, you can hire someone with exactly the skill you’re looking for. This approach has worked well for NASA. As Principal Technologist John Vickers put it, NTL’s solutions are “far beyond our current state of knowledge and will greatly impact our lunar and Mars mission architecture for manufacturing and construction.”

• Access to a global talent marketplace

Being able to find talent from around the world increases the chances of completing complex projects successfully. 

• Flexibility

Blended teams are easily scalable and adapt quickly to change. NASA puts together groups from diverse backgrounds to solve complex problems, including generating ideas, designing system architecture, improving algorithm performance, developing software and applications, and working with graphics and video.

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Integrating freelancers into Airbus: Mina Bastawros' approach

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Airbus has 130,000 employees — and the global talent market offers more than 70 million freelancers who remain at the forefront of technology. Mina Bastawros, the company’s head of creative and digital marketing, looks for freelancers when he wants to test new ideas or needs highly specialized skills.

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Collaborating with freelancers means Bastawros can work the way he finds optimal: “Fail fast, test fast, and prove value.”

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How the blended workforce model was implemented at Airbus

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Stage 1: Validating the concept. The marketing team studied another Airbus unit’s experience with freelancers and decided to try it themselves.

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Stage 2: Identifying problems. The project team identified major pain points and listed the needs of HR, the CTO, and employees overseeing digital transformation.

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Stage 3: Creating a platform. An in-house Airbus service-connected employee looking for freelancers with platforms to find them. The single sign-on (SSO) approach made things much easier: just one search gave users a view of the entire landscape of available freelancers.

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Stage 4: Choosing leaders. Finally, Airbus appointed “change makers” — leaders to oversee the blending of teams. They helped find the right freelancers, smoothed out communication between teams and departments, and built new processes.

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This is how Airbus successfully incorporated freelancers into their teams.

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Business Impact

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When done right, integrating freelancers into traditional teams is an effective tool for businesses. In a study by the Harvard Business School and BCG, 40% of respondents said that access to specialists on online platforms accelerates market entry and increases productivity.

At the end of the day, the blended workforce is a flexible and resilient system that allows companies to successfully navigate changes, withstand key employee departures, and attract quality talent. It can be adapted to any company size and allows businesses to focus on employees' key competencies and contributions rather than bureaucracy.