With over 20 years of experience in staffing, industry veteran Gabriel Moreno Jr. has helped lead the contingent workforce program at Bristol Myers Squibb since joining the organization three years ago. The program boasts 2,500-plus contingent workers with an annual spend of several hundred million dollars. It currently covers the US, Puerto Rico and the UK and will soon include Ireland as well.

Following BMS’ acquisition of Celgene in 2019, Moreno worked to merge both organizations’ CW programs, determining the best practices from each and applying them to BMS’ backbone of operations. As part of the program transformation, Moreno and his team this year have implemented independent contractor validation and a direct sourcing channel, which Moreno calls “the wave of the future” for BMS. “We’re starting to see some momentum building through there,” he says, adding that the new direct sourcing channel is already projected to result in $250,000 savings annually.

This savings comes at an opportune time for the program. In response to the tight labor market, BMS continues to prioritize efforts to retain key talent with a focus on skills-based hiring. Moreno looks forward to the boost the program will enjoy from the upcoming rollout in Ireland. Always one to roll with the punches, he adds, “We go in with the best-laid plans … and then we get introduced to new projects and new thought processes. The days are always evolving and making for learning [opportunities]. As the contingent world changes, we have to be agile enough to enhance our offerings for the rest of the business.”