In today’s marketplace, HR teams face a long list of challenges. The competition for talent is intense, companies must address growing skills gaps, and employees are increasingly demanding more comprehensive and flexible support. Staffing firms that enable HR teams to meet these challenges will have a significant competitive advantage in 2025 and beyond.

Staffing firms aren’t just responsible for helping companies identify, screen and hire talent — they’re also increasingly focused on professional development and retention. As staffing firms take on a more holistic role in talent acquisition and retention, a key competitive differentiator will be effective digital HR management platforms.

These platforms leverage data and rapidly emerging technology like AI to quickly match companies with the best talent, improve the candidate and employee experience, and facilitate communication and collaboration across the organization. The staffing firms that recognize the value of HR management platforms will be able to pass this value along to their clients.

A New Era of Workforce Management

The global economy is in the middle of several tectonic shifts, from the growth of automation and AI to the surging demand for a wide range of new skills. The World Economic Forum predicts that 60% of employees will require training before 2027, while Microsoft reports that 82% of company leaders say employees will need new skills for the AI era.

It’s no wonder that 62% of HR leaders say “uncertainty around future skills poses a significant risk.” Staffing firms must help HR teams identify candidates with skills that meet their evolving needs, but they should also focus on upskilling. This won’t just improve productivity and engagement — it will also increase retention. Over two-thirds of employees say “opportunities to learn new skills are a key factor in any decision to job-switch.”

A digital HR platform can assist with all the above: finding and attracting talent, managing the workforce and giving companies a competitive edge over their peers.

Providing Holistic Support for Employees

Staffing firms must broaden their priorities from talent identification and acquisition to effective workforce management. This is particularly urgent at a time when less than one-third of employees are engaged at work, which can lead to a wide range of negative consequences — from lower productivity to turnover.

After years of remote and hybrid work, employees expect greater flexibility from HR teams than ever before. This is another area where a comprehensive HR platform can add value by streamlining scheduling and PTO requests, facilitating on-demand pay and other flexible benefits, and automating workflows (which increases time for other tasks).

Seventy percent of employees say they’re interested in customizable benefits, and an HR platform can provide these benefits — along with features such as mobile access, on-demand services and tools for improved communication with colleagues and managers.

An Overdue Digital Transformation

The adoption of digital platforms for hiring, benefits and other core HR functions can address many of the most urgent issues HR teams face from skills gaps to turnover. Staffing firms are in a particularly strong position to leverage these platforms, as they have access to networks and data that many HR teams lack.

Close coordination between staffing firms and HR teams will be increasingly vital in 2025. Staffing firms can keep HR teams oriented toward the future by helping them adopt new technology such as AI. According to Gartner, over three-quarters of HR leaders expect that their organizations will lag behind peers if they don’t implement AI over the next two years. From candidate screening at scale (among organizations that have adopted AI for HR, talent acquisition is the top use case) to the identification of skills gaps, AI-powered HR platforms could revolutionize the industry.

These are a few of the clearest indicators that the staffing firms that recognize the importance of digital innovation will be especially valuable to HR teams in 2025 and beyond.