What word count reveals about industry trends
Staffing Industry Review
What word count reveals about industry trends

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It’s a common trope in whodunits: The answer to the mystery is hidden in plain view, in quotidian details that all but our eagle-eyed detective can see.
Our mystery: how some of the largest staffing companies view and prioritize key trends in the staffing industry. Our detective: SIA Research Analyst Francesca Profeta, who scoped out companies’ own earnings reports for details that are obscured for all but the most careful readers in her Listed Staffing Company Trends Analysis of 2024 report.
The report analyzes the frequency with which 36 words and phrases are used in the annual reports of 25 listed companies between 2019 and 2023, putting hard data on the language used to describe themes that are shaping the industry. It’s important to remember that word frequency alone may or may not indicate the importance that individual staffing firms place on different topics. Even so, we believe word count in aggregate can identify key themes that staffing executives should examine for possible impact on their businesses.
When taking this high-level view over a longer time frame, key themes emerge. Of the individual words and phrases analyzed, ESG (environmental, social, and governance) is by far the fastest-growing concept, with the use of the term rising 3,794% between 2019 and 2023. Technology, meanwhile, was by far the most commonly mentioned, as illustrated by the size of its bubble in the accompanying chart.
Figure. 1. Key Words/Phrases in Staffing Company Annual Reports
Percent change in frequency, 2019-2023
Source: Listed Staffing Company Trends Analysis 2024
Change
Change and change management are of perennial concern to business owners. While the staffing industry has recently been facing a downturn, use of words related to decline and uncertainty has actually decreased over the last four years, while “growth” has seen moderate gains of 2%. While some of this may be due to the occasional use of the word “growth” to mean change itself (as in the phrase “negative growth”), the word is used more often and more frequently than its negative or ambivalent counterparts — a good reminder that the industry remains slightly above pre-pandemic levels.
ESG
ESG embodies the three major challenges facing business and wider society. As the staffing industry is intimately tied to both, it’s unsurprising this topic has leapt up the corporate agenda. While the larger publicly-listed firms have been at the forefront of the issue, ESG can help smaller private firms better manage risk, enhance their reputation, access capital and better position themselves for long-term success. For more about how this trend is developing, see SIA’s Environmental, Social, & Governance Trends Among Staffing Firms report.
Workers
Though in some ways captured under the “social” umbrella of ESG, workers themselves are so fundamental to the staffing industry that it’s worthwhile to examine these trends separately. Of looming importance is the growing concept of the shortages, both for workers in general and for key skills in particular.
Companies are becoming increasingly creative in finding solutions, as illustrated by the small but quickly rising prevalence of words related to well-being among annual reports. Especially in healthcare, employers are emphasizing workers’ mental health, as good mental health improves worker efficiency and retention. Remote and hybrid work have also been on the rise, with “hybrid” rising from only 23 mentions in 2019 to 271 in 2023 (though still less prevalent than “remote” overall).
Another example of growing flexibility is the fast rise of the term “upskilling.” While mentions of “training” and “reskilling” have increased 30-40%, both were already fairly common topics in 2019. Mention of upskilling, on the other hand, has more than tripled, and the word is now used as commonly as reskilling.
Technology
Although not listed in thesaurus as such, in practicality “technology” is merely another synonym for “change.” As such, it’s a topic that’s always important. And the rate of that change is accelerating faster than ever following the release of ChatGPT at the end of 2022.
Discussion of artificial intelligence (AI) seems ubiquitous these days, so it’s interesting that “artificial intelligence” and “machine learning” were by far the least commonly used terms among the technology phrases analyzed. AI was mentioned just 200 times, compared to about 450 instances of “automation,” the next lowest. And both AI and automation were dwarfed by prevalance of the word “platform,” which appeared almost 2,500 times. Still, it seems that listed companies are aware that their annual reports are public, and they’re not looking to give all the secrets away: 70% of the words mentioned about technology were the generic terms “technology” and “digital.”
What’s clear is that all firms need to develop an actionable technology strategy and a framework for leveraging technology efficiently. Additionally, the world of technology is expanding rapidly, making the range of information that companies must stay on top of much larger and increasing the need for security.
Staffing firms large and small have an increased need for information as well as for tools to assess and build their technology strategies. While these capabilities may be developed internally, firms can also look for third-party partners, or inquire about the SIA’s upcoming Staffing Tech Toolkit, a new product that is full of research and tools designed to help members fill this gap.