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Everything you thought you knew about staffing is wrong — Executive Forum

March 17, 2015

Is everything you know about staffing wrong?

Staffing Industry Analysts President Barry Asin asked the question today in his keynote speech, “Why everything you know about staffing is wrong,” at the Staffing Industry Executive Forum today in Orlando, Fla.

Not everything you know about staffing is wrong, of course, but times are changing and the industry is evolving. The better question, Asin said, is “why are things you used to know about staffing wrong?” 

Here are a few of the points:

  • The staffing industry is not just about staffing. Staffing is a lot more than temporary and permanent placement. These days the industry includes independent contracting, crowdsourcing, HR consulting, VMS and more. The value of the US temp staffing market is more than $100 billion, but there are much bigger markets out there. Contingent work for example — including statement-of-work and independent contractors — is more than $800 billion.
  • VMS has not ruined the staffing industry. It has, however, grown the industry and changed it. In fact, a majority of North American staffing revenue is transacted via VMS.
  • Technology-driven change for the industry is not over. One example is growth of the “human cloud,” which includes online staffing, crowdsourcing and online services. Other examples are the integrations of VMS and freelancer management systems. And artificial intelligence and robotics are likely to have a significant impact on jobs and the industry.
  • The Affordable Care Act is not a negative for the entire staffing industry. It is an administrative challenge for sure, but SIA is projecting faster revenue growth due to ACA, particularly in healthcare and industrial staffing.

Asin wrapped up with an updated forecast for industry revenue growth. And for temporary staffing (all segments), revenue growth is expected to be 6% in 2015, up from an estimated 5% in 2014.

The Executive Forum continues today through Thursday.