The ocean of online staffing has been quietly gaining in size over the last few years. New startups are popping up, and others are gaining ground. Tech firms have been growing in size and improving their technology. The silence is over. Online staffing looks to be the wave of the future – crashing down on the traditional temporary staffing model.
But, the conventional model has worked for years and continues to be the best option for most employers looking to hire new workers. When employers need temporary help, they have had one real option: The temp agency. As more employers have become reliant on staffing agencies to locate their new workers, new agencies have been created to provide workers in almost every industry and business type imaginable. Today, there seems to be a specialized staffing agency designed to meet the needs of every major employer in the world.
Speed is the most important factor in today’s hiring trends. Skilled workers are harder to locate, even for the most capable staffing agencies out there. Traditional job postings are being washed up, returning less than qualified candidates to screen for each opening. As a result, it’s taking staffing agencies more time to fill their orders, as it’s becoming more difficult to locate the appropriate candidates for employer’s companies may get frustrated with the amount of time it takes staffing agencies to locate a hire.
Looking forward, will the staffing agency be relevant? Will employers still need a middle man to find the talent to fill their open jobs? Will traditional staffing agencies just get in the way of employers and the talent they need to hire? Can online staffing firms actually start taking business away from traditional staffing agencies? I think so – just not today (or tomorrow).
Current market leaders have focused too heavily on connecting employers to workers to one major industry – Technology. Need a web developer for a new project? You’ll find thousands on sites like freelancer.com or odesk.com. However, if you’re looking to hire a new CFO for your growing business? Tough luck. The problem with the current offerings from online staffing companies is that many of them fall short on meeting the true needs of the larger workforce. Online staffing companies will need to address how to effectively connect a vast pool of workers to a variety of specific jobs that meet both the needs of the employer and also the employee.
All considered, it’ll take some time still for the global workforce to understand how to leverage the advantages that online staffing brings to the marketplace. And, new companies will need to be formed in order to meet the needs of the employers currently using traditional staffing agencies. But, the water is getting warmer, and more companies are starting to dip their toes in the online staffing waters. It won’t be long until this new wave becomes the swell of the industry.
About the Author:
Justin Clarke
Justin is CEO of F|STAFF, a developer of innovative software for staffing agencies. He is also Vice President of Contracted Driver Services, a staffing agency in the logistics and transportation industry. Justin is co-founder of The Honey Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to teaching kindness to children.
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinclarke1/
Website – F|STAFF
