Staffing Industry Analysts Collaboration in the Gig Economy Europe conference debuted today.  

The one-day event brings together workforce solutions providers, HR and procurement buyers and others including staffing firms to discuss the latest trends in the gig economy.

Attendees at the conference discussed the workplace trends in the world of work at the London Royal Lancaster Hotel. The event followed the CWS Summit for staffing buyers that began earlier in the week, which featured discussions centered on leading a contingent workforce in a time of change impacting both tech and talent.

John Nurthen, Executive Director, Global Research,Staffing Industry Analysts, commented, “It's great to see the world's largest buyers of contingent labour come together with the supplier community to spend a day exploring ways to collaborate and improve the talent supply chain. This event recognises that wherever you are on that supply chain we can best succeed by empathising and supporting each other.”

Nurthen opened with a keynote that featured speakers including Michael Kearns, VP, Enterprise, Toptal; Brandon Metcalf, SVP, Salesforce, Bullhorn; and Sam Smith, VP Global Solutions, EMEA, Strategic Sales Lead, KellyOCG.

Among the highlights included Smith stating that the industry needs to focus on what the talent’s journey looks like, and “that we need to give them a really good experience so they succeed.”

Following the keynote panel, SIA President Barry Asin kicked off “Gig-E Talks 1” where he spoke about how the £2.5 trillion gig economy is all about connecting the work with workers. He said human cloud firms such as Uber has proved that if you “make it easy for people they will work.”

There was talk about living in uncertain times we live in. Steve Knapp, VP, Brightfield Strategies, commented during the second Gig-E talks on the  uncertainty that leads to the need for more of an agile workforce. This could be a tremendous opportunity for the workforce solutions ecosystem, he said.

For more on the gig economy click here.