Last week PSG President Aaron Green attended the Staffing Industry Analysts’ first conference on Collaboration in the Gig Economy  in Las Vegas. Green shares his thoughts on what the Gig Economy means for employers and candidates:

“This was the first time that the staffing industry has joined together with human cloud companies and large VMS companies to discuss the changes in our industry,” says Green. “We’ve seen how employers and workers are connecting in new ways, and as an industry, we’re talking about how we can be part of, and add value to, that new way of connecting.”

Green adds, “There are a lot of new and different tools on the market now to help employers and candidates connect and to make the transaction more efficient.”

Attendees at the conference heard from a range of platform providers, including online staffing and just-in-time staffing providers, as well as human cloud companies and private talent clouds, that integrate with VMS, MSP and RPO technologies. Companies such as 99 Designs, UpWork, IQNavigator, Allegis Global Solutions, Catalant, UpCounsel, Freelancer.com, WorkMarket, Lystable, MBO Partners, Wonolo, Shiftgig, Blue Crew, and Gigwalk participated in panel discussions and offered best practice perspectives.

Green likens the trend to a B2C movement for the staffing industry, with more opportunity for direct-to-consumer connections. Speakers at the conference claim that 99.7 percent of transactions on a web site don’t involve human beings anymore and many of the functions are being automated and changing dramatically, such as the need to submit a resume, the ability to search for jobs, the shift from candidate references to ratings, and the streamlining of the payment process.

Green thinks there are opportunities for staffing firms to take advantage of technology and new platforms and combine it with their value-added services. He also believes that the sector is a “bit like the wild west right now” and that we’ll see more regulations and worker protections in the near future.