Revenue in the human cloud — which includes online staffing, online services and other firms — nearly doubled in 2016 to between $47 billion and $51 billion, according to a report by David Francis, senior research analyst at Staffing Industry Analysts.

The increase came mostly in the B2C segment, which includes firms such as Uber and makes up 90% of human cloud revenue. Revenue in the B2B segment of the human cloud rose by 20% in 2016.

“The human cloud has always been an incredibly dynamic space, and 2016 was no exception,” Francis said. “While 10 years ago it consisted of just a handful of companies and very little revenue, online-based work models in all their various flavors generated roughly $50 billion in revenue last year. Staffing executives and other stakeholders should pay attention to this budding part of the workforce, as we expect continued growth (and evolution) among these firms, continued interest and experimentation from clients, and more competition (and partnerships) between traditional incumbents and new players. In short, potential opportunities and threats abound, and it behooves the diligent staffing executive to stay ahead of the trends in this rapidly evolving space.”

In addition, the report noted the line between online staffing and traditional staffing is becoming thinner with seeming hybrid models such as “just-in-time staffing” becoming more prevalent. Just-in-time staffing is a subset of online staffing using online platforms to engage and pay workers. With just-in-time staffing, staffing buyers can use online platforms to engage workers for onsite work, most often for blue collar roles.

It’s expected that some firms in this space will fail, but overall SIA expects robust growth in the human cloud for the next several years. One possible storm cloud, however, is if funding continues to be anemic, it could cause growth to moderate.

Corporate members can download The Gig Economy and Human Cloud Landscape: 2017 Update report online.