In the past five years, the gig economy has stormed the gates of the traditional recruitment services industry, changing the way we do business and causing widespread upheaval around the world, most prominently noticed in technology hubs from Silicon Valley to Tel Aviv. With five offices across California and New York, we can speak to the opportunity and the implementation of this new way of work.

Startups Leveraging The Gig Economy

As we’ve seen in recent decades, new startups have sprung up from Market Street to Wall Street, leveraging new talent in a largely untapped market to come up with new ways to reduce costs on performance metrics that previously would have been more expensive. The jobs leading the charge—such as event planning, recruiting, sales, and even many management responsibilities—can now be replaced in a matter of minutes, or even seconds, on a smartphone, tablet, or laptop. You can hire these candidates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from wherever you are at the time.

How Technology Is Changing Recruitment

Recruiters who previously sourced and placed personnel on behalf of clients a decade ago have been largely replaced by marketing managers supporting robot-like advisors who use data science and analytics to customize a unique hiring experience for clients. While you may be used to the idea of a gig economy, you may not be aware of the expansiveness of its impacts or its lasting effects on your industry. What's worse is that some organizations ignore these trends in favor of deprecated hiring tactics that drive innovation and margin into the ground. 

Embracing The Disruption

These 'sinking ships' as they're referred to, "The gig economy isn’t going anywhere,” according to our own Ben Dodge of Payroll Services in a recent interview citing the modern workplace disruption. Aren’t disruptions normally bad? Not if you’re focused on advancement. What we advocate is incremental disruptive hiring and recruiting, which spans beyond any fly-by-night trend or tactic derived to undermine our talent pool. Diverse hiring and inclusive recruiting are just two of the ways our company has had to destroy old routines and build new ones to find more intelligent clients and candidates. 

The Role Of Staffing Agencies In The Gig Economy

While not every organization has the capability to invest in hiring from curated talent as we provide at Premier Talent Partners, the good thing is even now—today, early adopters can benefit from partnering with staffing agencies that embrace the improvement in speed and performance allowed by this new “Gig” economy. Gigs can range from single-day activities to specialized ongoing, repetitive job responsibilities. According to Gallup, 36% of the workforce in the United States is a part of this growing trend, with an expectation of 40% coverage by 2020. Organizations large and small are getting involved in leveraging talent to solve problems in profitability and retention in a new and innovative way.

Who Is Jumping On Board? 

From banking to brewing, companies are implementing these new hiring solutions. Anything that plays in the realm of repetitive, scalable business operations, whether in the creation, distribution, or reporting of goods or services is likely to be awakened to the fruitful capabilities allowed by this new mode of work.

Where Do You Start? 

If your team hasn’t considered the implications of using this real-world rework of assessing and aligning performance-based hiring with limited-scope, limited-liability hiring trends, there’s still time. What’s important is to not get so far behind you can’t catch up.

Embracing The Gig Economy

As the gig economy continues to reshape the workforce, adapting to this shift is no longer optional for businesses seeking long-term success. Early adopters are already reaping the rewards of leveraging flexible, curated talent to drive efficiency, innovation, and profitability. If you haven’t yet embraced these changes, now is the time to start. At Premier Talent Partners, we’re here to guide you through the evolving landscape of recruitment and staffing solutions. Reach out today to learn how we can help you stay ahead of the curve and build a workforce that meets the demands of tomorrow.