This was a big week for technology news with Google launching its Google for Jobs artificial intelligence job search tool and Travis Kalanick stepping down from his role as CEO of human cloud, ride-sharing firm Uber. There was other news as well affecting the workforce ecosystem, from online staffing provider Shiftgig’s executive hire, VMS provider Beeline’s partnership with Genesys Talent and a funding round for email and text messaging firm Sense.

Shiftgig

Shiftgig, which uses an online platform to connect clients with hourly workers, named rick Bowman as chief technology officer.

Bowman most recently served as chief software officer for Morningstar, an investment research and management firm, where he led software engineering practice for more than 1,200 technologists; a role he took on two years ago. He also held leadership roles at Deloitte Consulting and at HelloWallet, a subsidiary of MorningStar that allows employers as a benefit to provide workers with personalized financial guidance via a website and mobile app.

Shiftgig is a mission-oriented firm, connecting millions of workers to shifts, Bowman said in describing what brought him to Shiftgig.

“I’ve met a lot of the 40 software engineers making up the team building the platform and everyone is super engaged in this,” Bowman said.

Looking to where the technology is headed, he sees the software platform as helping to make the shift process more transparent for workers and managers. He also sees more artificial intelligence, including machine learning, that will allow more automation. Workers won’t have to scroll through shifts to find their match, instead the platform will do the job of finding the work that best fits their past experience and schedule.

Beeline and Genesys Talent

The number of staffing buyers using online staffing platforms rose to 12% in 2015 from 4% in 2014, according to research by Staffing Industry Analysts, although the number of buyers considering using online staffing over the next two-year period fell to 5% in 2015 from 10% in 2014.

This week, vendor management system provider Beeline announced a partnership with online staffing platform Genesys Talent that will enable staffing buyers to source Genesys workers using Beeline’s self-sourcing tool.

There was an earlier alliance between IQN and Genesys before IQN and Beeline formed into a single company, and the new partnership includes both the Beeline and IQN VMS platforms. The move follows a similar announcement in May between Beeline and online staffing platform Hired, and Beeline reported it will be adding other online staffing providers in the future.

Genesys, based in Houston, sources workers for both onsite and remote work. Staffing Industry Analysts’ Gig Economy and Human Cloud landscape report ranks Genesys as the 18^th-largest B2B-focused human cloud platform.

Sense Talent Labs

Sense Talent Labs, a San Francisco-based firm that provides a platform for staffing firms to automate emails and texts to job candidates, received $8 million in a series A funding round and $2 million in seed funding for a total of $10 million. Sense announced the funding this week.

Sense allows staffing firms to deliver personalized emails and texts timed to specific moments in a temporary worker’s job cycle, including welcoming the employee, checking on the first day of an assignment and soliciting feedback at the midpoint of the assignment.

“Up to 20% of contingent workers drop out before an assignment ends and about 70% who finish a job don’t return to the agency for another one,” Sense CEO Anil Dharni said in a statement. The aim of the company is to increase engagement among temporary workers.

A co-founder of Sense is Pankaj Jindal, former CEO of staffing firm Akraya and former president of Aditi Technologies and Aditi Staffing.

The series A funding round was led by Accel Partners, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based venture capital firm, and GV.