Contingent workforce management (CWM), the strategic procurement process for temporary staff, is getting a lot of attention these days. This is surprising given the tough market conditions, since in a recession, nonpermanent staff is often the first to go. So why is there such a high interest level? Companies are looking for ways to better negotiate rates and keep pace with the economy, quickly scaling back and staffing up as required. An optimized CWM program can help enable exactly that by providing better visibility into enterprise-level spend and streamlining the hiring cycle.