Dive Brief:
- GigSmart, a mobile staffing app, saw a 460% increase in hourly gig postings since March, even as companies closed down and laid off workers due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a Nov. 17 announcement from the company.
- Many of the placements were in construction, food service and warehouses — all industries hard hit by the pandemic lockdowns.
- GigSmart also increasingly had its workers placed in healthcare, particularly at senior living facilities, the announcement said. "We have a high turnover rate because it can be a challenging environment to work in," Susie Stebbins, director of HR for Senior Housing Options, said in a statement.
Dive Insight:
GigSmart's sharply rising usage numbers reflect one avenue for talent management post-pandemic. A June Gartner report noted that changes to workplace protocols instigated by the pandemic may lead to an increase in contingent work, something that could shape people strategy for years to come. Employers turn to contingent hires to save money and improve efficiency, Gartner said — key considerations during the pandemic era.
Changes wrought by COVID-19 only heightened current trends in the contingent work space. A February PeopleReady report said that gig workers were aiming to take on more work in 2020. And a September 2019 Randstad survey said that 1 in 4 companies were replacing employee positions with contingent jobs in an attempt to remain agile in a tough market.
Before the pandemic, employers more broadly were shifting to what Randstad called a total talent management model — "an organization's acquisition and management of all human talent, including permanent hires and contingent workers, as well as non-human talent such as robots, AI, software, and automation." That shift comes with its own challenges; back in 2018, companies were still figuring out how to organize people data and understand exactly who worked for them.
