A lot has changed in the last 25 years since Staffing Industry Analysts’ first Executive Forum. A lot has remained the same too.

Staffing is still a people industry, and personal relationships are key. But much has evolved.

“The biggest change in the industry since then was the dramatic change in technology,” said Barry Asin, president of Staffing Industry Analysts.

There was no Internet at the first Executive Forum in 1991 — and no VMS either.

But technology isn’t the only change. There has been more globalization in the industry and it has become more professional — in terms of revenue. Professional staffing represents the majority of revenue. Back in the day, the majority of staffing revenue came from industrial and office/clerical.

In addition, today’s staffing industry “is just a much more diverse industry ecosystem,” Asin said. In addition to temporary staffing, the ecosystem has evolved to include managed service providers, recruitment process outsourcing, independent contractor compliance and more.

Highlighting the expanded ecosystem, only six M&A transactions from 1995 through 1997 involved companies that were not traditional staffing firms, said Al De Bellas, president of investment banking firm De Bellas & Co. The deals included three training companies, two payrolling firms and one PEO. But in 2015, companies other than traditional staffing firms represented a quarter of all M&A deals tracked by De Bellas.

“What is actually, equally — if not more — noteworthy is what hasn’t changed,” said De Bellas, discussing what buyers of staffing firms look for. “What hasn’t changed is the importance of a good business model, excellent culture and plain old blocking and tackling.”

Blocking and tackling includes effective recruiting; a good, organized sales program; and personal relationships with clients.

“There are always these new trends: On-site, VMS, MSP, online staffing, talent banks, etc.,” he said. “But the basic execution of staffing depends on those individual factors. … It is still a human-based business.”

De Bellas has tracked the industry for a while and attended all 24 of the Executive Forums held so far. Another longtime industry participant is Robin Mee, president and managing executive recruiter at Mee Derby & Company, a search firm specializing in the staffing industry. Mee has attended 23 Executive Forums, including the first one.

Mee stresses that despite the changes in technology over the years, it’s still a people business. Executive search remains a one-on-one business, and while technology facilitates, it’s in-person meetings and the telephone that are the crux of the relationships.

“The relationships are the cornerstone in doing business, and communication occurs in in a lot of different ways but the most important way is verbal,” she said.

People remain at the core of the industry.