What Happens to Staffing When People Don’t Want to Apply to Jobs Anymore?

Consumer companies have conditioned the world to expect instant results — whether that’s a video on your phone in one click, a rideshare at your door in five minutes, or a red dress delivered to your mailbox in two days.

This is the rise of signup culture, and we’re already seeing a shift in how people are taking this same approach to their work. How?

Applying for a job will become more and more like signing up for a job.

Weeks-long or days-long processes will get compressed further and further. The goal for staffing agencies will be to — whenever possible — make the job hunt as easy as signing up for an Instagram profile.

Online staffing marketplaces are driving big results for staffing innovators. Digital platforms like TrueBlue’s Jobstack connects buyers and candidates in real-time. They grow revenue, improve an agency’s brand, and increase retention rates. In TrueBlue’s case, retention rates grew to 53% in the second quarter of 2020, according to SIA’s research study. Patrick Beharelle, TrueBlue’s CEO, sees increased efficiency everywhere. “Approximately 50% of PeopleReady’s orders are being filled by our JobStack tool, all without human intervention,” said Beharelle.

Another benefit of online staffing marketplaces is the sheer increase in gross margins. We can see this when we compare traditional staffing margins to online staffing marketplace margins. Traditional staffing gross margins are 16.2 – 20.0%. Online staffing marketplace gross margins are over 4x larger at 70.8% – 83.7%, according to the same SIA research study.

“If staffing companies will want to continue to compete for just in time talent, they will need to support daily pay,” says Taryn Owen, President at PeopleReady. “We consider it to be one of our greatest differentiators.”

Daily pay has two primary advantages: For some, it’s the ability to have the flexibility to spend money as quickly as they’ve earned it. It’s for the staffing industry what binge watching is to Netflix. Immediate gratification. For others, it’s become an important way to manage finances and make sure they’re making ends meet.

“Daily pay is embraced by anyone making less than $25-30/hour,” says Brad Talwar, Founder & CEO of Talenburst. “Almost 90% of our lower pay light industrial population is on daily pay.” Technology has been a crucial element of Talentburst’s ability to embrace daily pay. A worker now can get paid eight minutes after they finish a shift.

Candidates often cite their onboarding experience as a key reason for choosing their place of employment. “Previously, 37% of hourly workers said ‘being hired quickly’ was the most important factor when choosing where to work, and in the current climate, that will be even more true,” says Derek Williamson, the CEO of HigherMe, an ATS that serves retailers and hospitality companies such as Dunkin’ Donuts, IHOP, and Hilton. “With so many job seekers looking for work, many will take the first job they’re offered.”

Staffing innovators are finding ways to compress hiring times with a mixture of technology and creativity. Allied Global Services reduced their onboarding time by 2-3 by optimizing their background check process. Talentburst compressed an onboarding time that took up to 3 days down to less than five minutes.

The Rise of Signup Culture is the first in our Staffing Trends 2021 series, a series of three eBooks which show you how the staffing industry will evolve in 2021 and beyond.

You’ll learn about these changes from some of the staffing industry’s leading innovators. Inside the eBook are insights from:

Download the eBook today to learn the trends, statistics, anecdotes, technologies, and people who are embracing signup culture and changing the future of the staffing industry.