close

Staffing

FOWX Notes, December 1 Edition

Business LeadershipSolution ProvidersTechnology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on

News and happenings from around the greater world of work and talent:

  • Industrial staffing platform Employbridge hires Chris Campbell as its new Chief Product Officer. The trailblazing workforce solution, which is powered by leading digital staffing platform Bluecrew, hired the former Angi and Workhuman executive as its latest high-profile addition. Campbell will oversee the company’s continued growth and evolution. “The HCM platform ecosystem has traditionally been considered the exclusive realm of pure-play technology companies, and we’re on a quest to turn that notion on its head,” Campbell told the Future of Work Exchange. “With the acquisition and integration of Bluecrew, and a Best-in-Class software engineering and product management team working together to advance our purpose, we have a massive opportunity to not only unlock potential for every constituency that we serve but also to redefine the future of work in a way that works for everyone. What happens when you combine thirty years of deeply entrenched and locally-led expertise, national scale and influence, and a fully extensible SaaS platform that materially improves the lives of talent and clients? Let’s find out.”
  • Extended workforce platform Beeline announces its innovative “Beeline Supplier Network.” The new offering is a forward-thinking solution designed to enhance collaboration, efficiency, and visibility in managing contingent labor across organizations, and was developed to serve as a marketplace and resource hub, providing tools for suppliers to showcase their capabilities, promote differentiators, and access valuable business tools, ultimately facilitating easier consideration for inclusion in extended workforce programs. “I am incredibly excited about the recent launch of our Supplier Network,” said Brian Hoffmeyer, the company’s SVP of Market Strategies. “It is a direct reflection of Beeline’s extended workforce platform strategy and will help buyers and suppliers better connect and collaborate to find and engage top-tier, high-quality talent.”
  • Multifaceted workforce management solution Ceipal adds new Chief Marketing Officer, Andy Weiss, to its team. The total talent management platform, which blends ATS, CRM, VMS, and DE&I functionality under a seamless umbrella of offerings, recently added Weiss to its executive team. “I’m thrilled to bring Ceipal’s innovative staffing and recruiting technology to our valued clients and potential customers,” said Weiss. “Our mission from the start has been simplifying the work of recruiters, staffing experts, system integrators, and MSPs. Now, we’re taking it a step further. Our AI isn’t just an add-on; it’s embedded into daily workflows, making routine tasks better, faster, and smarter. Ceipal is growing fast. I can’t wait to see what we bring to the market next.”
  • ServiceNow and AWS announce a strategic partnership to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities into business applications. This collaboration aims to leverage AWS’s machine learning services to enhance ServiceNow’s platform, offering users advanced AI-driven functionalities for improved business processes.
  • Former Paychex CFO Efrain Rivera joins Magnit’s Board of Directors. With his extensive experience in finance and strategic leadership, Rivera is expected to contribute significantly to Magnit’s growth and development initiatives as the industry giant continues to innovate around its array of extended workforce solutions.
  • While jobless claims increased slightly by 7,000 to 218,000 last week, the overall number of individuals in the U.S. collecting unemployment benefits reached its highest level in two years. Totaling 1.93 million in the week ending Nov. 18, the stat is the highest it has been since late 2021. The rise in continuing unemployment claims may indicate challenges for those already unemployed in finding new work, signaling some softness in the otherwise resilient labor market amid slowing hiring and fewer job openings.
read more

The Skills-Based Organization and the Staffing Outlook for 2023

Contingent WorkforceDiversity and InclusionTalent Acquisition by Christopher J. Dwyer on

There’s no question that the world of staffing has entered yet another period of uncertainty. Besieged by the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic and then, thankfully, amped by a greater need for workforce flexibility and an increased utilization of contingent workers, the staffing arena faces a watershed year ahead.

Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange research has discovered that 82% of businesses leveraged more extended talent in 2022 than 2021, proving that:

  • The extended workforce’s great bump in utilization wasn’t just an anomaly due to the pandemic’s impact on fluctuating talent needs.
  • Non-employee talent remains a viable and strategic way to not just augment staff, but truly drive mission-critical endeavors with high-quality, top-tier skillsets and expertise, and;
  • With direct sourcing, AI-enabled hiring, and digital recruitment paving the way for the Future of Work movement, the realm of extended talent translates into an opportunity for businesses to thrive during even the most challenging of times.

Glider.ai is a Best-in-Class, next-generation artificial intelligence platform that has disrupted the staffing and recruitment technology markets. Glider AI’s unique talent intelligence platform provides its users with fully-automated tools to boost candidate assessment and allow hiring managers (and other talent management executives) to remotely execute deep, skill-based recruitment strategies with a robust layer of strength and rigor.

The solution recently polled over 130 staffing, recruiting, HR, and contingent workforce leaders on their intentions, challenges, and general perspectives on the talent arena.

Takeaway #1: Diversity Is, As It Should Be, A Critical Priority

Nearly 90% of executives in Glider’s research study state that initiatives related diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) are a “medium-to-high” priority entering the new year. Of that figure, over 50% deemed it a high priority, proving an old mantra of the Future of the Work Exchange: a diverse talent community is the deepest talent community, especially as it pertains to the extended workforce.

While established diversity programs previously existed in many enterprises, the events and civil unrest of the past three years have driven many businesses to develop and communicate more purpose-driven goals which are linked to societal, economic, technological, and sustainable shifts. To achieve these goals, a large number of businesses are trying to harness the power of a diverse workforce. Glider’s new research study is a pure reflection of the modern enterprise’s 2023 commitment to DE&I in its hiring efforts for both full-time and temporary staff.

Takeaway #2: High-Tech or Low-Tech, It Doesn’t Matter: The Skills-Based Organization is King

Nearly 70% of businesses in the Glider study stated that high-tech and technical skills are currently a high priority for hiring and recruitment. Even though some of the world’s most massive tech brands, such as Alphabet (Google), Microsoft, Meta (Facebook), Amazon, and Salesforce have executed mass layoffs in recent months (and in the case of Alphabet and Microsoft, literally just over the past two weeks), there is still a incredible need for professionals with high-tech skills.

Why? The answer is simple: we are living in a globalized and digitized world of work, in which digital transformation is an ongoing endeavor in nearly every enterprise, not to mention the overarching digital requirements in operating in a networked economy. Some of the highest-level talent in digital fields can only be found in the ranks of the extended workforce, which translates into the need for the average organization to devote more resources to enhancing contingent workforce management.

Too, the flip side of this equation isn’t even a counterbalance, as nearly 80% of organizations state that non-technical roles are a “medium-to-high” priority for businesses. Combined with the aforementioned high-tech stat and we can come to a direct conclusion: the skills-based organization is king.

In 2023, there will be many discussions around the concept of the skills-based organization. And this doesn’t just mean that businesses prioritize the skillsets they have within their ranks or within their talent pools or talent communities, but rather center the way they work around enterprises skillsets, expertise, and experience. By fractionalizing jobs/projects and segmenting the work from the workers, enterprises can more effectively align what needs to be done with the know-how required to address it.

Takeaway #3: Upskilling Remains a Key Focus for Businesses

The new Glider study found that 83% of enterprises placed a “medium-to-high” priority on upskilling as a means to engage top-tier candidates and retain top talent. This just reinforces the idea of the skills-based organization, as expertise has become the de-facto weapon in a skills-driven, digitized business arena. As enterprises to balance an ongoing pandemic, a looming recession, and an increasingly-globalized (and, of course, more competitive) market, skills become ever-so-critical.

Upcoming Future of Work Exchange research finds that nearly 70% of businesses are actively focused on engaging new and advanced skillsets in anticipation of digital transformation, further reinforcing the need to 1) upskill current workers (both FTEs and contingent) and 2) engage talented professionals that can make an immediate impact. The greater focus on upskilling (which is an entirely different entity than reskilling) is crucial for a variety of reasons, including:

  • The digital enterprise now requires progressive skillsets that are needed to thrive in an evolving world of work.
  • Upskilling is a ideal way for business leaders to combat extreme talent shortages by developing highly-skilled workers from within the organization, and;
  • It prepares enterprises to weather workforce disruptions (due to challenging economic conditions or other market events) and can serve as beneficial attribute of the company brand when developing new talent acquisition strategies.

Download Glider’s new research study and learn more about skills-based organizations and the state of staffing in 2023.

read more

FOWX Notes: November 18 Edition

General Insights by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Some picked-up pieces, news, and insights from across the evolving world of talent and work:

  • Magnit appointed its first-ever Chief Technology Officer. The integrated workforce management platform (formerly known as PRO Unlimited) announced the hire of Mohan Natarajan as its first CTO. A 20-year software veteran, Natarajan joins the company after spending time at Salesforce, Motorola, Cisco Systems, and Silicon Graphics.
  • Direct sourcing platform Opptly launched its Opptly.Connect™ application. The app, part of the company’s innovative array of direct sourcing and candidate management tools, is a unique offering that connects candidates with jobs via AI-driven matching based on actors beyond skillsets, including hard and soft skills, workplace preferences (i.e., remote work, hybrid workplace, etc.), and type of role (FTE, contingent, etc.).
  • KellyOCG announced the appointment of Adelle Harrington as EMEA VP for MSP and adjacent workforce solutions. Harrington, who will report into KellyOCG president Tammy Browning, will oversee Kelly’s vast array of offerings in EMEA, such as SOW/services procurement, direct sourcing, and consulting services.
  • Leading talent marketplace GigSmart announced a partnership with Onfleet. The integration between GigSmart’s Best-in-Class talent marketplace tech and Onfleet’s last mile delivery management software platform will allow delivery organizations to engage, source, and manage candidate while also managing delivery operations and customer communication.
  • Industrial staffing giant EmployBridge completed its acquisition of talent marketplace and workforce management platform BlueCrew. The deal, which was formally announced on October 5, closed this week and will see the two organizations come together to build a “national workforce management platform.”
  • AMS recently announced the launch of its “AMS Verified” talent tech analyzer. The new platform has verified over 1,000 solutions across the talent technology ecosystem, including direct sourcing providers LiveHire, WorkLLama, and Opptly.
  • Allegis Global Solutions, the talent solutions arm of staffing giant Allegis Group, announced that Steve Schumacher is its new president. Schumacher succeeds Chad Lane, who held the role at AGS since April 2010. Schumacher has spent nearly 30 years within the Allegis family of companies and takes over as president effective immediately.
read more

Key Providers for 2021: Glider AI

Solution ProvidersTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

[Editor’s Note: Over the next several weeks, the Future of Work Exchange will unveil its “21 for 2021” list of key solution providers that are shaping the Future of Work through innovative technology, progressive functionality, and overall impact on the evolving world of talent and work. On deck for today: Glider AI.]

The Background:

Artificial intelligence has become a prevalent piece of the total talent management puzzle, with incremental upticks in adoption over the past several years. Specific pieces of digital recruitment, talent acquisition, and contingent workforce management have been augmented with predictive analytics, scenario-building, and candidate workflow management.

In the evolving world of talent and work, AI has gone from a “nice-to-have” enhancement to a clutch functionality that can drive a competitive advantage. “Talent” in and of itself is a viable differentiator, and businesses must ensure that the expertise they are hiring from various channels of staffing are truly “top-tier” from background, performance, and assessment perspectives.

Enter Glider AI.

Why They Were Selected:

Future of Work Exchange research finds that 62% of businesses will harness the power of AI for candidate assessment over the next 12-to-24 months, a figure which reinforces the need for better awareness, control, and visibility into pre-recruitment processes. Glider AI’s unique talent intelligence platform provides its users with fully-automated tools to boost candidate assessment and allow hiring managers (and other talent management executives) to remotely execute deep, skill-based recruitment strategies with a robust layer of strength and rigor.

The Future of Work Exchange was developed to help HR, talent acquisition, procurement, finance, and other key executive leaders understand how work and talent are changing and how they best optimize how work is done. Platforms like Glider AI prove that the “age of AI” is not just a phase, but a truly impactful spectrum of innovation that can effectively transform the way businesses structure their talent engagement and talent acquisition strategies.

In Their Own Words:

The Glider AI talent intelligence platform helps you put your hiring on autopilot with active screening, interactive assessments, and virtual interview tools. With Glider’s AI-based talent analytics, you can stack-rank candidates against their peers to hire top talent -every time! Our real-world assessments, coding simulators, auto-coding tests, and non-tech task simulators, empower you to hire for competency over credentials.

Glider’s auto proctoring and plagiarism checks take the guesswork out of hiring by ensuring high test integrity and candidate authenticity. With features like Diversity Toggle and Accommodation features for disabled candidates, Glider helps you create a recruitment process that is entirely skill-based, unbiased, and fully automated. 

Glider helps enterprises, recruitment agencies, and Managed Service Providers create, execute, and manage their entire hiring process remotely for any role- full-time or contingent, tech or non-tech. Our skill-based hiring approach, helps you reduce your time to hire by 50%, improve your interview to offer ratio by 3X and helps you achieve 98% candidate satisfaction.

Employer branding, ATS/VMS integration, compliance, customized processes, pre-built test library, candidate report, talent analytics, data confidentiality, mobile optimization, 24/7 support – we go all the way to make quality talent your reality.

With Glider, you get – talent quality first, bias never, integrity always.

The Outlook:

It’s clear that the talent solutions landscape is changing; no longer can enterprises solely rely on “traditional” platforms alone to facilitate the ideal alignment between work and available talent. While core contingent workforce management technology and services have evolved in recent years and continue to drive the utmost value to their users, the stakes are too high today for businesses to not tap into dynamic platforms that can drive augmentative power.

In addition, the remote and hybrid workplace environment in which we live and work includes many workforce management processes that suffer from a lack of in-person execution. The Future of Work Exchange Report for 2021’s data indicates that 84% of businesses are essentially “reimagining” core workforce management processes, including recruitment, hiring, talent engagement, onboarding and offboarding, etc. A sizable chunk of that reimagined effort is digitally-transforming pieces of workforce management via artificial intelligence, RPA, and other facets of enterprise automation.

Glider’s unique offering blends true AI with the precision required to effectively generate deeper candidate assessments in a remote setting, while also providing a groundswell of talent intelligence to execute more informed recruitment and talent acquisition decisions.

Glider AI is exceptionally positioned to thrive in a talent solutions marketplace that craves next-generation intelligence and a richer gateway to top-tier talent and skillsets.

read more

The Permanence of Workplace and Workforce Transformation

Business LeadershipGeneral InsightsHRTalentTalent Acquisition by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Around this time last year, there was a spirit of optimism that had been missing for over six months. The waning weeks of 2020’s winter brought disruption like never before, with the spring months forever etched into our minds as a period of uncertainty, fear, and anxiety. The summer of 2020 brought a sliver of hope that coronavirus cases would recede in anticipation of a better fall. We unfortunately know how the story goes from there: inching cases from September through the end of November brought one of the globe biggest’s winter surge before millions of COVID vaccines were administered through the late weeks of winter 2021 and through the spring. And yes, now we’re living a Delta variant world, but there’s at least some science-led expectancy that its enhanced transmissibility will result in a shorter surge than the ones earlier in the year.

If we look back to last summer, though, for just a moment, there was an aura of variability that sparked a temporary wave of thinking in how businesses managed their workforce and structured their workplace environments. “At some point, hopefully soon, we’ll get back to normal.” We’ve been saying it for months since then, hoping that there will be some sort of signal that it’s okay to get back to full office, cluttered highways, and crowded meeting rooms. Maybe there’ll be a point in time when those carefree, pre-pandemic days will once again be a steadfast reality, right?

Wrong.

If there’s anything that we should be discussing now, it’s the permanence of transformation. The pandemic left an indelible mark on how we get work done, from the way we engage talent to the means of aligning skillsets with specific roles and projects. In our personal worlds, we think, act, and move differently. Even those of us who are vaccinated routinely wear masks in grocery stores and other crowded areas. While there will absolutely be a day that we can battle COVID as an endemic piece of our seasonal virus gauntlet (much like the flu or the common cold), the truth is that we are all different from the collective experience of the past 18 months, which will soon be “the past two years” and then the “past 36 months.” We’re looking at a future of on-and-off mask mandates, vaccine boosters, and “embers” of hotspots where inoculation is low. We’re standing up against a continued fight against a “goldilocks” of a virus that will be with us forever.

That modicum of permanence, that we’ve been fundamentally changed…why can’t we accept that in how we conduct business? Do we really think that there will be a day sometime soon when we throw out all of the productivity gains we’ve seen from a shift to remote work? What about the realization that businesses can effectively engage top-tier talent no matter the location? And is there a point in time when enterprises suddenly stop relying on the extended workforce?

Well, no, of course not. Which means that the evolution we’ve collectively experienced as business professionals over the past 18 months is permanent, a series of uniform changes to how we think about talent and how we think about how work gets done. Consider that:

  • Nearly half (47%) of the total workforce is considered “non-employee,” another sharp increase from the year before and likely a result of the workforce agility gained from tapping into this on-demand, top-tier talent.
  • 75% of businesses state that the pandemic forced them to reimagine how they apply skillsets to projects and how they structure their workforce.
  • 70% of enterprises believe that the extended workforce effectively allowed them to be more adaptive during the challenging times of 2020.
  • 82% of businesses expect worker flexibility and related issues (such as empathy) to permanently transform how work is done.

Look at how fast the past year-and-a-half went by and the major talent/work shifts during that time period: remote and hybrid work as fundamental layers of survival, executive leaders managing with empathy and flexibility, the agile workforce becoming even more of a tool for thriving in changing times, etc. Change can be relative in most cases, but today, it is certainly not. We’ve all collectively experienced change in our personal and professional lives, and now the permanence of workforce and workplace transformation needs to be embraced as the current and future state of work. Businesses that don’t adapt and don’t buy into the foundational revolution of change will not only be left behind, but may find themselves never being able to catch up. Everything that’s happened in the greater world of work and talent, be it the viability of hybrid work or the massive shift to worker flexibility, is part of a permanent fixture of change and progression.

Workers understand what’s at stake and it’s the main reason why resignations are at an all-time high in the scope of business history. Worker experience (what we call the “talent experience” here at FOWX) is paramount for career development and work/life balance. Flexibility has cascaded down into the very fabric of the workforce and will forever become a crucial piece of the overall talent experience.

Given the uptick in extended talent utilization, the workforce has changed. Given the uptick in remote and hybrid work, the workplace has changed. Given the requirements and criticality of flexibility and the employee experience, the worker has changed. Permanently.

read more

Contingent Workforce Weekly, Episode 603: “Hot Vax Summer” Meets the Delta Variant

Podcast by Christopher J. Dwyer on

An all-new edition of the Contingent Workforce Weekly episode, sponsored by DZConneX, a Yoh company, highlights how summer reopenings and return-to-office plans are currently being derailed by the Delta variant of the coronavirus.

The big ideas around the summer being a time of reopening, celebration, and a return to normalcy have all been thrown into a tailspin, especially knowing that this variant results in more frequent breakthrough cases and can possibly be spread by even the vaccinated population. The question, though, remains: what does it mean for business?

Tune into Episode 603 of Contingent Workforce Weekly below, or subscribe on Apple Music, Spotify, Stitcher, or iHeartRadio.

read more

Guiding Principles for The Future of Work

Business LeadershipContingent WorkforceHRSolution ProvidersTalentTalent AcquisitionTechnology and Innovation by Featured Contributor on

[Editor’s Note: Today’s article is a guest contribution from Sunil Bagai, CEO of Prosperix.]

When describing the Future of Work, it’s worth keeping in mind a quote from the sci-fi author William Gibson: “The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed.”  Over the past two decades, we’ve all seen industries transformed by technology – travel agencies barely exist anymore, taxis are in a battle with Uber and Lyft for their very existence, and we can purchase virtually anything from groceries to cars online. Travel, transportation, commerce, and entertainment, have all become infinitely more frictionless (and often more affordable) experiences.

All of these examples occurred in established industries that had seen sustained success – and stagnation of technology and business innovation. Many players in those industries were utterly caught by surprise and got left behind. Their customers abandoned them, and why wouldn’t they? It’s not just the application of data and technology to solve problems that’s changed – our perceptions of what’s possible need to change as well.

For businesses to evolve from where they are today to where they aspire to be in the future, they must think and act differently. To help businesses realize their highest potential and deliver meaningful impact, they need new ways of building and managing a thriving workforce.

The world of hiring, and contingent hiring in particular, has been a world of silos and limited data for a long time. That’s led to a particular view of contingent hiring, one that’s full of inefficiencies and process issues. Ferrying data between an ATS, VMS, Talent CRM, and other solutions leads to leakage and an inability to treat hiring as a holistic process. As technology solutions continue to merge traditionally siloed functionality, a world of possibility is opened up for the future of work. Below are some of the principles that guide us at Prosperix, that we believe will create a future that leads to prosperity for all of the stakeholders in the hiring ecosystem.

  • Empowerment – This principle has two components. One is that a seamless candidate experience needs to be an integral part of the hiring process. We’re moving from a model where candidates are out of the loop to one where candidates feel like they are a part of the process, leading to better outcomes. Additionally, a commitment to foster equal and democratized access to opportunities and growth, while uplifting those in need of greater assistance, is the path to a future where everyone prospers.
  • Alignment – Alignment between hiring managers, talent acquisition teams, talent suppliers and candidates is enabled by technology solutions that unite formerly disparate systems. When stakeholders are not focused on solving process issues, they are able to think strategically about their hiring program.
  • Ecosystem – A culture and environment that fosters balance, sustainability and harmony amongst all stakeholders, with keen understanding that prosperity for each member benefits the whole and there is a necessary inter-dependency that requires a high level of compassion, cooperation and collaboration to thrive individually and collectively.
  • Diversity – Valuing diversity recognizes differences between people and acknowledges that these differences are not only a valued asset, but a necessity to achieving great results and outcomes. Diversity occurs when systems are designed thoughtfully to be inclusive and access is democratized, allowing anyone of any background and status to succeed and attain prosperity. Diversity can also provide greater choice and variety in options and opportunities.
  • Transparency – Transparency enables greater visibility, accountability and allows for fixing of inequities by sharing information openly amongst stakeholders. Fostering a transparent environment, as opposed to a siloed process structure, increases trust and partnership over time.
  • Flexibility – In a fast-changing world, there is greater need for solutions that are dynamic, agile, adaptive and can meet the needs of the moment by being responsive and nimble. Flexibility ensures that organizations can thrive in the most challenging of times because resilience and elasticity are designed-in as foundational elements.
  • Innovation – The world is changing exponentially. To stay relevant and thrive in this fast-changing dynamic, it is essential to embrace innovation. The right innovation is a tremendous catalyst for growth and prosperity as well as facilitates resilience from the ongoing turbulence of a constantly changing environment.

The future is already here, it’s just not everywhere yet. To learn more about our vision for the Future of Work, reach out to us at solutions@prosperix.com.

read more