Analysts See Jump in Big Businesses Hiring Online

by Darrell Jones

A recent study by Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) reveals that mid-market and enterprise companies are turning to online freelance teams at record pace. Centered around research conducted by the SIA team, the article reports that 10 percent of firms now employing a contingent workforce plan to use online staffing in the next two years. This is a dramatic increase from last year’s SIA study, where similar estimates were at 3 percent.

SIA asked Jon Diller, VP of Enterprise Solutions at Elance-oDesk, for his take on the trends behind the uptick in online hiring. He pointed to three key reasons for the increased adoption of online staffing by large companies:

1. Online work is the new norm.
   “Contingent Workforce leaders are recognizing that online staffing is the new frontier for finding the talent their organizations need and accessing them on-demand,” Diller said. “Almost half of the world’s population is now connected to the Internet. And the people with the latest skills have essentially grown up online. Many are freelancing online even before graduating from college. Working online is the new norm. And this new breed of talent is simply not accessible through traditional staffing channels.
2. The war for talent is becoming fiercer, and leaders must find innovative ways to find the talent they need —quickly.
   “Beyond the ability to reach across the country or globe to find exactly the right skill at exactly the right time, the flexibility to ramp up and down as needed with a bench of pre-qualified professionals — coupled with the speed to value achievable through online staffing — has captured the interest of these same leaders who must innovate just to keep pace with the changes around them.
3. HR is realizing that independent contractors can no longer be managed like vendors.
   “Our data also shows that contingent workforce leaders are increasingly dissatisfied with their current solutions for working with independent contractors. These individuals cannot be managed like vendors, nor can they be managed like FTEs. Online staffing platforms like the Private Talent Cloud™ provide the right solution to engage with this workforce efficiently and in compliance.”

For more info on the move to online staffing, check out the article Online Staffing is the New Frontier: CW Managers’ Interest Rises Sharply.

*This post originally appeared on Elance.com.

Darrell Jones, Editor-in-chief at Elance-oDesk and marketing copywriter, loves writing. Period. And he especially loves it when he can write about himself in the third-person voice. Whether it’s for flashy national online or print campaigns, Darrell loves the challenges of communicating, sharing and persuading. The more he writes, the happier he is. Connect with Darrell on LinkedIn and Twitter @djones33.