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The SIA Playbook: How Buyers and Staffing Agencies Can Win Together
73 Plays2 months ago
What if you could sit down with someone who talks daily to enterprise buyers managing contingent workforce programs and the staffing firms competing for their business, and get the inside scoop? In this episode of Staffing Made Simple, we dive into the latest Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) data on the economy, break down VMS and MSP trends, and show why technology and AI are now essential for agencies that want to specialize and show up as true partners — not just vendors.
To tackle these topics, co-hosts Casey Wagonfield and Rob Geist of SimpleVMS sit down with Kersten Buck, Senior Vice President of Global Strategic Solutions at SIA. Kersten breaks down what the data says about buyer and staffing trends, how the contingent workforce landscape is evolving, and what agencies need to do right now to stay ahead and thrive in a fast-moving market.
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Overview
00:00:00
Speaker
What if you could sit down with someone who talks to the enterprise buyer running contingent workforce programs and staffing firms trying to win and keep their business and ask what's really going on out there. In this episode, we dig into SIA data on the economy, VMS and MSP trends, why tech and AI are now non-negotiable and how agencies can specialize and show up as true partners, not just vendors.
00:00:27
Speaker
If you live in the staffing or contingent workforce world, this episode is for you.
Host Introduction and Market Momentum Discussion
00:00:33
Speaker
Welcome to Staffing Made Simple, podcast series powered by Simple VMS.
00:00:40
Speaker
Welcome back to Staffing Made Simple. I'm your co-host, Casey Wagonfield. yeah know Even though the staffing markets felt a little stuck over the last couple of years, there's real momentum starting to build again.
00:00:51
Speaker
And the agencies that adapt now are the ones that stay in the game the most. The rules of competition are shifting and the firms and contingent workforce programs that truly understand where contingent hiring is heading are gonna come out ahead.
Contingent Workforce Changes and Future Directions
00:01:03
Speaker
So today we're digging into what's really changing in the contingent workforce landscape on both the buyer side and the staffing side, where the industry is likely headed next. We'll talk about the latest SIA data, what it's saying, how VMS and MSP models are evolving, and why tech and AI have moved from nice to have to non-negotiable for programs and providers.
Guest Introduction: Kirsten Buck from SIA
00:01:25
Speaker
But before we dive in, let me bring in Mike Cousins. He's a man of many interests. You might find him on the golf course. You might find him at an art gallery. You might find him at Hot Pilates. He is the Senior Vice President at Simple VMS, Rob Geist. Thank you, Casey. And as always, that was a great intro. I really appreciate it We've got an awesome guest joining us today from Stockton Industry Analyst, the group behind many of the reports, charts, and conference session this industry runs on.
00:01:52
Speaker
She works every day with enterprise buyers, staffing firms, and tech providers, helping all sides make sense of where the market is going and how to respond. We're thrilled to welcome Kirsten Buck, Senior Vice President of Global Strategic Solutions at SIA to the show.
SIA's Role and Industry Impact
00:02:08
Speaker
Kirsten, thanks for coming on.
00:02:09
Speaker
Thank you, Rob, and thank you, Casey, for having me. I am excited to be here with you guys, and hopefully we have some fun stuff to talk about. Awesome. Kirsten, someone that's been in staffing for 16 years, I've seen your name all over different things on SIA. So to finally get to meet you at the last conference and get you on our show, we're really pumped. But before we get into it, maybe just take a quick minute to explain what SIA actually does for the industry.
00:02:34
Speaker
So maybe some of the listeners who may only know the name from a report or conferences, what does staffing industry analysts support both the buyer side and the contingent workforce leaders and procurement? and the staffing agencies and solution providers that serve them?
00:02:47
Speaker
Yeah, I love being able to answer that question because most people that deal with us are dealing with really just the specific needs that they have. So like on the staffing side, they're getting resources from us that they rely on on the investor side. They're getting insights that they require. On the enterprise buyer side, they're looking at how different solutions will support their contingent workforce programs.
00:03:09
Speaker
We are the world's only global research and advisory firm that covers this space from end to end. Meaning the entire staffing workforce solutions ecosystem, including enterprise buyers.
SIA's Diverse Services for Staffing and Enterprise Buyers
00:03:18
Speaker
We have well over a thousand members and we service more companies than that and thousands of professionals.
00:03:25
Speaker
Some of our fun stats are that we have 40 of the top 50 staffing firms that are members. We also have three of the magnificent seven that are council members and 25 of the fortune 100 companies that are council members as well. are five core services that we have really stem around editorial news and recognition, research and data sets that encompass about 250 reports that we publish every single year that are accessed through our corporate members, and then conferences and webinars, which many people do know us for.
00:03:55
Speaker
and our industry training and certification. Within those core services, we tailor each product to fit each side of the business. So one side like Global Daily News, for example, is written for our staffing audience, while our CWS 3.0 weekly newsletter is written for the enterprise buyer audience.
00:04:14
Speaker
Same is true with our conferences and events. Our executive forum, which many people know about in Europe and in North America is for the staffing leaders and staffing executives.
00:04:24
Speaker
While our CWS summit in North America and in Europe is for the buyer audiences. People that do program management or HR, talent acquisition and procurement. All of those include all of our research and we do recognition that support both of those different audiences.
00:04:39
Speaker
We also have a supplier audience. We have thousands of suppliers that are members with us. So we do publish information that's specific to them. We started this business over 35 years ago really in support of staffing leaders and to provide insights and industry information to staffing leaders. And we've continued to evolve over time to now be covering the entire ecosystem.
Kirsten Buck's Career in Staffing
00:05:01
Speaker
So if you're using contingent labor or you're a leader at a staffing firm, I'm just going to say right now, you need to join SIA. You need to look at the reports. I think it's a huge resource to anybody that's supporting the industry from either side.
00:05:16
Speaker
Kirsten, you've worked in the industry in the past. And now you're at SIA, you're looking across the whole ecosystem from buyers, staffing firms, tech providers. For those listeners who may not know your background, can you give 30 second elevator pitch of what your journey has been and how you ended up in this role?
00:05:32
Speaker
I'd love to hear that. Yeah, I started out in staffing like many people have, specialized in IT staffing and quickly moved to get around those programs, the MSP programs, quickly moved into the outsourcing solutions throughout that same staffing organization and then moved into the MSP world, took a small break and did some engineering staffing for a small provider. So I got back to the roots of really what does it take to run a staffing firm?
00:05:56
Speaker
And then went back into MSP after that for a global firm based in the UK. So I had a lot more global expertise. Honestly, like, where do you go? i could have worked for another provider and sold competitive products. I just didn't feel like that was right for me to put my name on a different brand.
00:06:13
Speaker
And so i ran into one of my old pals from one of my previous employers at an MSP. And she was like, hey, why don't you give us your resume at SIA? So here I am 15 years later and have pretty much of a well-rounded background around staffing. Yeah.
Staffing Growth Projections and Industry Cycles
00:06:29
Speaker
Overseeing that whole ecosystem from your vantage point, what do you think is really happening in the economy? and There's been a lot of concern, the staffing stalled, yet your research shows that some positive movement, even long-term projections of potentially 10% growth by 2030. What do you think are driving those trends?
00:06:45
Speaker
Well, staffing's always been cyclical and we are seeing us still coming out of the big disruption from the pandemic and we're feeling optimistic. However, the 10% by 2030, that's a cumulative number coming from our research team.
00:06:59
Speaker
So technically that would be a good 2% a year over five years. We still are seeing things like the U.S. tariff impacts that really haven't materialized anything yet. But we think that there's enough uncertainty around what's going to happen with inflation that might start to filter into the economy.
00:07:14
Speaker
We also think that the major disruption that the labor market has taken so far caused by technology and other demographic changes, that employers are still stretched and need to get talent, but they're not going to be able to hire permanently right away. Therefore, they're going to need staffing and they're going to need staffing firms to perform for them more than ever.
00:07:32
Speaker
So as much as we are seeing some positive movement in the economy, we're seeing slow single digit numbers. And especially in the U.S. that's a mature market. We think that it will be steady over the next five years.
00:07:45
Speaker
And another thing that I think SIA does a good job at is you guys look at the industry as a whole. And so many of us just look at our little slice, whatever industry we're in.
00:07:56
Speaker
So what are the biggest shifts that you're seeing by industry? For example, I think healthcare is finally rebounding a little bit. I see a big movement to food and beverage gaining momentum.
00:08:08
Speaker
And then the light industrial CLI stuff still seems to be tightening up a little bit. What stands out to you? Well, in the short term, we really believe that the education staffing market is going to continue to be in a good position. That is relative because it's a fairly small market.
00:08:24
Speaker
So as much as it might have higher growth percentages, it's a smaller market than the others. Over long term, we do see health care rebounding a bit. And IT t probably has the strongest prospects, given all of the demographic and technology things that are happening right now.
00:08:40
Speaker
Light industrial and logistics and manufacturing also have some good growth prospects.
VMS Adoption and Future Trends
00:08:44
Speaker
So that's what we're looking at so far. Yeah. You know, I'm seeing a lot more states and governments and municipalities use contract labor that didn't.
00:08:52
Speaker
I love how it being so hard to recruit has pushed it into industries that in my former life, when I worked in staffing, that never utilized staffing at all. So it's good to hear those industries are growing.
00:09:05
Speaker
Yeah, I always thought it was interesting too, right after COVID when healthcare care was down, everybody's like, well, healthcare's down you year over year. was like, yeah, because it was up 300,000% during COVID, of course it's down.
00:09:15
Speaker
But moving on, want park a little bit because you guys do the landscape of VMS. who We love that. Obviously, we're a little biased. We love that report and reading what the new findings are. But getting into that buyer survey, just another report, obviously from the buyer side, really shows high VMS adoption already.
00:09:31
Speaker
I think over 80% in the Americas and Europe, and there's still a meaningful percentage planning to implement a VMS in the next two years. What does that tell you about where we are with the VMS adoption curve? And is this a growth story or more of a consolidation and optimization story?
00:09:46
Speaker
Actually, that 80% figure pretty much relates to organizations that have a thousand or more FTEs. So you're kind of in a market of a particular set of customers that would then be at 80%.
00:09:59
Speaker
We do think there is a ton of growth still in the mid-markets. We think that the mid-market is definitely looking for more ways and to look at VMSs and provide more of a consolidated approach to hiring contingent workers.
00:10:11
Speaker
The larger programs are expanding across Europe and into APAC, some of the more mature markets are looking to optimize their tech stack and find ways to fully integrate the VMS technology in with their HRIS data for more workforce visibility.
00:10:24
Speaker
Yeah, that's huge for us. People want systems integrated and they want to be able to match up the data. One stat that did jump out to me because it mirrors what we see at SimpleVMS, 78% of new VMS contracts in 2024 came from organizations that previously did not have a VMS. So who are these first gen adopters and what patterns are you seeing and why are they finally making the move now?
00:10:51
Speaker
Well, I think it's just that given the importance today of contingent labor and like I think there's an awareness of contingent labor across many different organizations or many different sizes of organizations, we're seeing that the visibility of that population is becoming more and more important. And at one point it was really just the VMS was more like your system of record and your primary use for staff org and to do job requests, to do candidate submittals, onboarding.
00:11:17
Speaker
that it's now really providing more of a sophisticated level of procurement technology by adding statement of work, by adding process automations, managing compliance and risk mitigation, and adding more decision-making, I think, just data-driven decision-making. And these Gen 1 organizations are realizing they need that functionality as well. I mean, they're more tech-focused.
00:11:38
Speaker
Across multiple industries, we're seeing people that are more tech-focused and They've come so far in the last five years as far as being adopters of tech. Traditionally, our industry has been such a slow adopter on everything. And I love it that the people that are out there running these companies know that they need to be on the cutting edge of all this stuff. So I think it's great for the industry as a whole.
00:11:59
Speaker
And I wonder if that number is high to that 78% because to that point of 80% of the large ones are already using it, right? So it's only matter of time before it trickles down into mid-market and more companies that had never traditionally used VMS are starting to use it. And to Rob's point, a lot more agencies are introducing technology to their clients that need it and becoming that top tier agency and providing the technology that their clients need. that We're seeing a lot of that.
00:12:24
Speaker
But one thing I know that's super popular in the staffing industry is NPS scores, net promoter scores. Some companies live and die by that clearly rated best of staffing award and getting the NPS scores. And traditionally, VMS NPS average is like negative 35, I think it was last year in the industry, but it went up to a negative 24. So it's improving slowly, but still firmly in the moderate dissatisfaction territory.
00:12:50
Speaker
So what are buyers actually unhappy about, according to the survey, and what should VMS providers or MSPs and even staffing firms take away from that? Well, personally, I have to recognize that I think the MPS scores, they have just been so low for so long.
00:13:05
Speaker
You kind of have to ask the question, at least internally, are we asking the right question? I mean, if they're that low for that long, there's still adoption, there's still usage of all these different systems and providers and such and MSP services and whatnot, but still have the terribly low scores. So I ask, are we asking the right question? But based on some of the surveys that we did in our VMS landscape survey in particular, it was really around issue resolution and the approach to evolution and innovation.
00:13:33
Speaker
Buyers reported that they got frustrated, that they were just inconsistencies around how their concerns were addressed or what the escalation procedures were and continuous improvement and how much are VMS providers using what they heard from the escalations in order to continually improve processes and evolve. I think that's really where that was coming from.
00:13:55
Speaker
That tracks. I don't know how many people over the years have told me, VMS just get put in place and you guys just don't do anything from there and you just continue to take money from our profits.
00:14:05
Speaker
So I think all the tech companies in this space are moving towards more service oriented and continuing to get better because that reputation just has preceded us for so long.
AI's Role and Challenges in Staffing
00:14:17
Speaker
Are more buyers leaning on MSPs and VMSs and what stood out in the data this year and where do you see that going in 26? We still could see MSPs and VMS markets continuing to grow in 26.
00:14:30
Speaker
We were surprised that the global market grew in 24, which was really a slow staffing market, but we really think it was due to more s SOW adoption and how MSPs are really growing overall to adding more IC and temps, I mean, a decline in IC and temps spend, but a growth in s SOW and solutions spend coming through the programs.
00:14:49
Speaker
We also think it's going to depend on how the providers adapt to the shifting expectations of end-user clients. Are they going to support specialized industries? Are there going to be global expansion, enabling statement of work, integrating AI-powered tools and intelligence to impact the daily operations? I think those are all things that the buyers are suddenly starting to look at and ask questions about.
00:15:12
Speaker
yeah And just the fact that even if spend is down, people still want to have more control on what they spend. Anecdotally, that's what I feel like is some of the driver of that as well.
00:15:23
Speaker
Yep. So I want to transition a little bit over to technology, but also AI. And I know this is something that you've written on as well. And AI dominated the conversation in 2025. We're still talking, but there's some leaders that say the hype has pulled a little bit.
00:15:37
Speaker
Do you expect AI to remain a major focus for staffing in their buyers? And if so, what specific advancements do you think will matter in the most and what changes are you seeing in the way agencies are approaching AI now?
00:15:48
Speaker
We really do expect AI to continue to dominate the conversation into the foreseeable future. All of the impacts on the labor market and the way staffing firms can deliver their services, I mean, been impacted tremendously.
00:16:00
Speaker
According to our North American staffing survey, staffing firms plan to increase their IT spending by 10% back in 2025.
00:16:08
Speaker
And they were going to focus that on sourcing automation, software integration, back office, recruitment chatbots, and voice AI. But at the same time, we look at it and say it does pay for them to be cautious.
00:16:19
Speaker
Gartner predicts that 40% of agentic AI will be scrapped by 2027. Forbes says 50% of the U.S. job seekers believe that AI tools used in job recruiting are more biased than their human counterparts.
00:16:31
Speaker
And the main blockers to adopt ai are really integration complexity, legacy system limitations, data quality and readiness issues, vendor capability gaps, security, privacy, and compliance concerns, skills gaps, and cultural resistance, as well as the legislation that's starting to appear that will penalize those that use AI badly. We're seeing that the staffing firms are going to definitely need to make sure that they are following with the latest legislation that impacts each group.
00:16:59
Speaker
Interesting. And you talked about data and that's the real fuel here. Without clean, complete data, the AI piece doesn't work. Where are programs still struggling most with data today? Is it across the visibility of VMS, s SOW, direct sourcing, or is it more about data quality from the suppliers?
00:17:19
Speaker
That's good question. Most of the data that the VMS is holding or that the end user is collecting is not necessarily in the right format. And so I think that's the first challenge. And then there's so much data that they're not quite sure of which data is going to give me the most important and relevant information that I could then make business decisions based on. And so once they figure out what the right data is for them to scrape, and then they clean that data and make that data so that it is usable and readable for ai then they're going to have to figure out how do they internally get their own legal teams to allow them to use that data.
00:17:56
Speaker
So I think the challenge about this is not just that staffing firms might not be delivering clean data or that the data is being collected and it's not clean. I think it's really like what data is actually important to be used, how do you make sure it's clean, and then how do you internally figure out the best way to get your legal teams to let you use it in order to make business decisions that will impact the future of the business.
00:18:16
Speaker
Yeah, we were actually on a webinar just talking to somebody about how the tech stack of an agency directly impacts the end buyer's product, right? And the service that they receive from the agencies.
00:18:27
Speaker
So from a buyer's perspective, what trends are you seeing and how they evaluate their agency partners when it does come to technology and AI? What are buyers actually expecting agencies to deliver?
00:18:38
Speaker
You know, at this stage, they really are basically hoping that they're doing all of the research and investment on those tools and not having to do it for them. At the end of the day, they're hoping that they can have a legal department that can audit it and that it is something that they don't then get stuck holding the bag to figure out whether or not they're meeting their own organization's compliance guidelines for using AI.
00:19:01
Speaker
So at the end of the day, they're really hoping that the end user staffing firm is doing their due diligence to make sure that they're getting all of the right things in place in order to make sure that they're investing in the right solutions.
Tech Stack Impact and Compliance Concerns
00:19:14
Speaker
I think that's a way to stand out for an agency, right? If you have a killer tech stack and you have AI built into it and you can share a story with them on how you've used that to help their business, just stands out from the rest.
00:19:25
Speaker
And make sure that your people that are telling that story know what you did in order to do their due diligence to say that it's compliant and auditable and those things. Yep. Well, and that leads directly into the next question. And we talked about how staffing is adopting technology faster than they ever have in the past.
00:19:44
Speaker
But are the buyers becoming more cautious around compliance, data privacy, and all the downstream implications of tools that they're staffing agencies use? I think they have to be. when You look in Europe, they've got the EU AI Act that's imposing huge fees, 35 million in pounds to the people that deploy AI if they're not complying. So they're imposing fines. That's just a start.
00:20:06
Speaker
They're traditionally more conservative relative to data privacy and such. We even have some states that have followed in their footsteps with more AI rules associated with how they manage in their states.
00:20:17
Speaker
And then some of the firms that have made some embarrassing mistakes out there, like, Aeropics Clawed Attempts Blackmail, the headlines that were out there, Microsoft Tay Turns Offensive, Amazon's AI recruitment Discriminates Against Women.
00:20:28
Speaker
Those were headlines that have been out there in the industry that I think start making the enterprise a little bit more nervous. Well, you've seen it over the last 10 years that it it goes in place in the EU and then it trickles down to certain states in the US s and then like, well, we're all adopting it. Look at the direction everything's going.
00:20:46
Speaker
Yeah. Now, if I'm a staffing leader, how should I be talking about AI in a way that actually matters to the buyer? What are the top of questions buyers should be asking and how can a good agency show up with strong answers?
00:20:57
Speaker
Yeah, make sure that you are talking about your AI products and how they're built ethically, how they're audited by a reliable third party. They get ongoing drift monitoring to ensure that the algorithm doesn't learn bad behaviors and that they're not lack box solutions where they're unable to explain how the algorithm works. I think just proof of concept that the product team can provide measurable impact. I think it's a big piece right there.
00:21:20
Speaker
Yeah, and probably good if you have a legal counsel or if you have somebody you can go to to look through those different things for you. We have an episode coming up with the ladies from Staffing GC, and that's one of the topics is talking about those types of things just to cover yourself, right? but stands up on the front of time magazine yeah Nobody wants to be on the front page with a bag over their head, you know.
00:21:40
Speaker
Co-employment's still a topic conversation that comes up. It isn't talked about less. Now, from your perspective, there are just so many more worries to have. Is that what it is? I think there's a lot more worries to have and that it's just to a lot less.
00:21:52
Speaker
but It still resonates to our buyers when we talk about it to them. And for staffing buyers, what are the must-ask questions they should be asking their staffing providers, their MSPVMS partners to separate true tech-enabled partners from folks who are just putting AI on a PowerPoint slide when they present to I think that buyers need to ask if the AI is being utilized, if it's proprietary to the provider, or if they're using a bunch of third parties in order to put together a solution. If that is the case, they need to understand their legal arrangement between the two different companies or the multiple different companies. And they also need to understand all the integration capabilities and how those work with some of the systems they currently have.
00:22:32
Speaker
Those are good questions to ask. I think some might integrate with one, but they might not integrate with all of the rest. So for ATS, FMS, and VMS, if you're utilizing all, you might want and to make sure you understand the integration between all of them.
00:22:44
Speaker
Make sure that your understanding is this in beta, or am I getting a true demo from real client production information that can show me that it's working in real live cases. And just getting references. Good old-fashioned references and referrals, I think, go a long way.
00:22:58
Speaker
And we shouldn't forget about those as proof cases.
Modernizing Tech and AI in Staffing
00:23:01
Speaker
Just talking to another user can give you real references on how they utilize the product. And it is funny. There's a lot of people out there trying to sell me tech.
00:23:09
Speaker
And then I get on calls with them and they'll be like, show me the product. I don't want to just see a PowerPoint slide of what you're showing me. I want to see the product. And it amazes me how many people don't want to get in their own product to show people when they're trying to sell it to them in the process.
00:23:26
Speaker
So for agencies then that know that they need to modernize, and maybe they just feel behind. I'm sure there's a lot of those. What are the first one or two practical steps you'd recommend so that they can show up differently in these tech and AI conversations?
00:23:38
Speaker
Well, this is my time for a shameless plug. We kicked off our Collaboration X event in 2025, and we are going full force with that. I think you're going to see a lot more innovation along there. We bring in providers that have new ideas. We talk a lot about it. We bring in experts to help educate the staffing executives. So definitely attend that event in 2026. It will be in September in Dallas.
00:24:03
Speaker
So that's my shameless plug. So we were at CWS and I heard a lot of people saying that they really enjoyed it and they're looking forward to next year. It was a great event. And I just see diving deeper into certain topics and providing more and more information to staffing leaders on what they actually need to know to move forward.
00:24:20
Speaker
And I think more and more agencies are willing to collaborate and talk. What's working for you? Let's get together and figure out what's going to work best for this industry. And the providers that are collaborating together too, rather than standing in opposite corners. Yeah.
00:24:32
Speaker
I've seen that shift in the industry so much. And i always tell this little story about how when I worked for an IT and accounting staffing firm, we had another staffing firm that was in our same building and I would be on the elevator with them going up to our respective floors.
00:24:46
Speaker
I wouldn't even look at the, they were the competition, but now people want to know what Other folks are doing what they've had success with, what they didn't have success with. I'm seeing more overall collaboration in our industry than I've ever seen before, and I love it. And I'll also say another great thing about SIA and the conferences I attend, and the feedback I hear from people is the the content is very thorough.
00:25:13
Speaker
And in your article, you highlight that program managers increasingly want providers who do one thing and they do it exceptionally well. And this is huge. They're willing to take outcome-based deliverables.
00:25:26
Speaker
What does this meaningful specialization look like from the buyer's lens? When you consider the way programs came into place, vendor consolidation and optimization was a way to control cost.
00:25:38
Speaker
In those early days when it was really all about one size fits most, that doesn't work anymore. General staffing going through the program, i have departments with specialized needs, going through these programs because they might have been on the outside of the program before.
00:25:51
Speaker
and doing so, you have to be more of a strategic partner in order to deliver on their needs. And so we're seeing a lot more people saying, okay, Rob, i will do some outcome-based services and take on more risk associated with the services I'm going to give you because I want you to work with me and not far me out to five other vendors in the space. So you're seeing a lot more of that moving forward as well as I think organizations are having an easier time to get statement of work through their systems rather than headcount related to bringing on contingent workers.
00:26:23
Speaker
So you got to be willing to be really good at what you're doing. Otherwise, the people that are in i can do that too situations, they're not able to deliver on the specialized needs in some of these organizations.
00:26:33
Speaker
I love that SIA article you wrote on specialization and you wrote one on how agencies should be repositioning themselves.
Niche Specialization and Strategic Insights
00:26:40
Speaker
And we saw something very similar at Aviante's Connect conference, which is their user conference and similar themes that agencies, they need to involve, become more consultative and lean into a niche or a boutique expertise.
00:26:53
Speaker
How do you see that strategy taking shape over the next year and beyond? We think that should continue. It's definitely something we talk about in our conferences. At Executive Forum, we say you need to specialize. We even say it in healthcare.
00:27:05
Speaker
For healthcare staffing, specialize and know if it's a geographic market, if it's a technology or a skillset, getting to the point where you can offer more value in building the talent pool that they need in order to meet the needs of the business.
00:27:17
Speaker
A lot of staffing are going into SOW and service procurement type solutions. We're seeing companies that are now going into employer of record type services and adding that to their service offerings, doing a lot more workforce analytics and labor intelligence and platform models and including freelancers. So we're seeing a lot more freelancer platforms coming into play.
00:27:38
Speaker
And credentialing has also become another big piece with trying to battle against worker fraud and stuff like that. So for the most part, these are easy things for a staffing firm to be able to add from a specialization standpoint. They're part of the DNA, so they should be able to add them fairly easily and do them super well.
00:27:55
Speaker
I love that. I think it's a good way to just differentiate yourself. There's so many agencies that claim they do everything, right? We do it all. But having that, I think it just builds credibility. This is what we do. This is all we focus on.
00:28:06
Speaker
And you talk to both sides on a weekly basis, so the enterprise buyers, the staffing providers. Where do you see the biggest mismatch between what the buyers say they want and what the agencies think they're being judged on?
00:28:18
Speaker
I have to say, I'm not sure if mismatch is the word, but there's simple things, you know, following up, keeping diligent processes and doing them all the way through every time, providing people on the project. And as you're like the account managers and such, I know from the buyer program manager side, they see so much turnover in the staffing business. They see a lot of turnover from their account managers and they feel like they have to reeducate people every single time. That's just frustrating. Whether it's from the rule of engagement at the program level,
00:28:45
Speaker
or it is who is who in the zoo at their particular location. I think that they look to the providers as their eyes and ears and really need that information to come forward without having to wait for it and ask for it.
00:28:58
Speaker
So the more they can offer from a strategy and partnership and what should we do moving forward and be a good partner, i think that in the long run, both the provider and the end user buyer on the enterprise side win.
Connecting with SIA and Upcoming Events
00:29:12
Speaker
Kirsten, this has been awesome. Before we wrap it up, for listeners who want to go deeper into the SIA data, follow your work, where should they go and how they can connect with you guys? Where would you point them to go?
00:29:23
Speaker
Well, if you're in Europe next week, we have our Executive Forum Europe Conference, and that is going to be a lovely event at the Landmark Hotel in London. We also have coming up in March, Executive Forum North America, and that will be in Austin, Texas at the JW Marriott.
00:29:38
Speaker
That's going to be a great event. I expect that you will see a lot of exciting new things from SIAs there as well. If you are interested in membership, you can get touch with me. I'll get in touch with the right folks from our organization.
00:29:51
Speaker
But if you even just go to memberservicesatstaffingindustry.com, they can always help. If you're a member and you're looking for a report, they're another good resource to get help for looking for that report.
00:30:03
Speaker
Our website has inquiry forms to get more information as well you're having any trouble finding what you need to find. And we do have webinars that come up a periodic basis too. If you don't get our daily news, that's free for everybody. I suggest you get it. It's your one sure thing email every day.
00:30:20
Speaker
You can subscribe to that on the website as well. Huge thank you to Kirsten Buck and the team at Staffing Industry Analysts for sharing such a clear window into what's happening with buyers, staffing firms, and the tech that connects them.
00:30:32
Speaker
Hopefully this gave you some ideas about how to show up differently with better data, clearer specialization, and a more honest story around AI and tech. If you're a contingent workforce or procurement leader, hopefully you heard a few insights to implement into your program and questions you can start asking your agencies right away.
00:30:48
Speaker
We hope you enjoyed this episode. Make sure to follow Staffing Made Simple on your favorite podcast platform. Please share it with a colleague. We thank everybody for listening and we'll see you on the next episode of Staffing Made Simple.
00:31:02
Speaker
This has been an episode of Staffing Made Simple powered by Simple VMS, the vendor friendly VMS.