In this article, Steven Cerny, vice president of sales at CareerBuilder discusses, how COVID-19, economic fallout, and a social justice movement have shaped the staffing industry’s future.
The economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic displaced millions of jobs and increased the need for leaner, more flexible teams. In times of economic hardship, staffing firms offer companies flexibility. But after shifts in working norms and sustained uncertainty for the future ahead, how can staffing agencies build up their workforces to meet the need?
Data from a 2020 staffing industry studyOpens a new window sheds light on the impact that COVID-19, economic fallout, and nationwide calls for social reform have had on the industry — and what lasting change it can expect to see in the future. Here are some of the study’s key insights:
Now and Post-Pandemic, Hiring Managers Perceive Staffing Firms as Critical To Rebuilding.
Facing a period of economic uncertainty bound to last through and beyond vaccine distribution, there is no doubt that the need for flexible talent will not only increase but become the norm. Based on the data, companies trust staffing agencies to help. According to the study, three in four hiring managers expect their organization will increase investment in flexible talent, and 73% of hiring managers expect staffing firms to play an outsized role in their firm’s recovery specifically related to the pandemic.
In times of crisis, it’s important for staffing firms to demonstrate to their clients how they can be there to fill the gaps encountered by their customers. The hiring managers surveyed believe staffing firms can help them with their biggest pain points. Coming out of 2020, those relate to accessing candidates with the right skills, improving time to hire and dealing with economic uncertainty. Staffing agencies should double down on these capabilities and showcase to clients how they go about solving for these major pain points in a way that differentiates them from peers.
Staffing Firms Turn To Automation To Save Time and Prevent Employee Burnout.
In response to the pandemic recession, leaders in staffing firms have had to shift the way they do business. Eighty-six percent reported making significant changes, and 81% report one of those changes will be a greater focus on cost-saving opportunities.
Earlier firms relied on multiple manual touchpoints to identify and hire staffing professionals – an approach that was costing them precious time. HR managers who do not fully automate have reported losing an average of 14 hours a week manually completing tasks that could be automatedOpens a new window ; more than a quarter (28%) waste 20 hours or more. Now there is efficient tech that relieves the burden on employees. For example, Semantic Search TechnologyOpens a new window helps screen resumes and profiles more effectively, whittling down millions of job seekers to just the qualified few in seconds.
AI technology is also helping the firms make hiring decisions fast. AI job recommendation tools can automatically post job descriptions across platforms. At CareerBuilder, our AI job description tool pulls from more than 2 billion data points to write the job description automatically — and see competing jobs, average salary, and candidate matches. Plus, a newly released ROI dashboardOpens a new window automatically combines talent acquisition analytics in one place. Using the dashboard, firms can view the number of candidates delivered within a selected timeframe, identify which solutions contributed to the number of candidates sourced and track trends over time.
Right now, with so many candidates looking for work amid the coronavirus pandemic layoffs, these tools help efficiently target candidates to make sure you get the talent you’re looking for, and the worker finds relevant jobs.
AI is also helping firms retain employees. About a third of staffing professionals said they were overworked; of those, 45% cited a lack of technology investment as one of the causes. Now, these automated processes are taking mundane tasks off the plates of employees who are facing increased demand. It is critical for firms to look at every piece of technology they invest in, and make sure it helps prevent burnout on their team — and doesn’t add more layers.
Learn More: Why Asynchronous Communication Is the Answer to Remote Work Burnout
As Companies Prioritize Diversity and Inclusion, They Are Relying on Staffing Firms To Help.
 Last year, a national social justice movement elicited many companies’ commitments to improving diversity, equity and inclusionOpens a new window with respect to their workplace and culture. Of hiring managers surveyed, 78% are prioritizing initiatives to hire more diverse candidates in the next 12 months. Managers see staffing firms as essential in prioritizing client diversity: 86% say staffing firms provide their organization with diverse candidates.
Staffing agencies can make a difference in this movement since hiring managers are looking to them to help bring greater diversity to their workforce. From my perspective at CareerBuilder, our staffing agency clients have been at the forefront of adopting  AI solutions that help manage bias. We also see them actively using a diverse database of resumes and social profiles to build talent pools with diverse candidates.
Learn More: 3 Ways To Leverage Hiring Tech for DE&I Success
Staffing Professionals Are Hopeful for the Industry in the Near-Term and Are Calling for Longer-Term Changes.
 When it comes to how staffing professionals rate their experience with their employer and their future career in the industry, there are bright spots but also grey areas.
Many staffing professionals report optimism about what the next year has in store for them at work. The fact that more employees are working remotely may have had some effect on morale. The number of staffing professionals working remotely tripled between 2019 and 2020 and employees who work remotely generally reported feeling more relaxed and having higher regard for their managers.
However, when staffing professionals were asked about how they viewed their career potential in staffing firms, Black, Indigenous, and people of color were less likely to see themselves making a career in the staffing industry — 41% replied positively compared to 64% of white respondents. This is a problem for the staffing industry, especially when clients are turning to firms to help achieve greater workforce diversity. Additionally, women and non-White men see far fewer opportunities of promotion at their firms.
In the immediate future, staffing firms should consider these figures and participate in their own internal reflection, so they can identify the blind spots around discrimination in hiring and promotion and help foster a more equitable professional environment.
Throughout the year ahead, staffing firms should double down on evaluating the value they add to the clients — especially in the areas of flexible talent, technology, and diversity and inclusion. Pay attention to internal staff and how they are feeling. Conduct some of your own surveys and research to understand the team you have in place. Think about not only how you have had to shift this year but about how those strategies you put in place will translate into success as demand returns through a period of economic recovery ahead.