Years ago, industry observers worried that human labor would lose its value as technologies like artificial intelligence and robotics started automating the workforce. However, as millions of American employers struggle to fill their applicant pipelines in the wake of COVID-19, it seems those early experts had the problem reversed.
Right now, the Great Resignation is creating bottlenecks that continue to complicate an economic recovery. Without on-site workers, events have gone unstaffed, delivery and fulfillment have stalled, and companies across virtually all industries have suffered tremendous impact. Far from those early warnings, the exodus of American workers has nothing to do with an uptake in AI or robotics. Rather, it’s proving just how valuable hourly labor really is, and those kinds of smart technology solutions might just be the best way to bring the workers back.
The Digital World of Hourly Work
The use of online job-search tools spiked during the pandemic, as workers across all industries left their roles and started a virtual search for better opportunities. Networking and job search platforms—LinkedIn, Indeed, ZipRecruiter—helped workers access new role listings and connect with online communities. Job searchers started supporting each other, reviewing companies and offering personal anecdotes. Other, more tailored mobile applications have connected workers directly with in-need employers, replacing traditional staffing agencies and becoming the preferred way to find faster, more flexible hourly work.
Upshift is a mobile, on-demand staffing platform that’s changing the way employers source their contingent workforce. Since the inception of the pandemic, Upshift’s pre-vetted workers have kept a show rate of 90%+—twice that of the industry standard.
‘Outdated hiring practices are incurring a huge expense to companies who are trying to recover,’ says Steve Anevski, CEO of Upshift. ‘Workers want to work, but they’re not going to settle. They’re going to find companies with hassle-free applications, flexible scheduling, and competitive compensation.’
Several years ago, a study by LinkedIn found 55% of candidates would abandon an application if the user interface required that they type out their resume rather than uploading it. In the current job-seekers market, that number would most likely be much higher. ‘Complicated application and interview processes, like submitting references and waiting for drug tests, are no longer worth their weight,’ Anevski says. ‘Not only do those protocols shrink the applicant pool, they’re also ineffective in predicting a worker’s on-site performance.’ Industry names like UPS have committed to a fully virtual hiring process, onboarding employees over email in as little as 30 minutes. Employers who have similarly expedited their online recruitment are seeing more applicants and more success.
The Self-Led Calendar Sync
Mobile hiring platforms can also make it easier for workers to have access to autonomous scheduling. When the pandemic took all personal and professional events online, people started to work toward a schedule that worked for them. Everything from virtual doctor’s appointments to social hours with friends and family was facilitated through self-led scheduling. For hourly workers, there’s no longer any reason that their shift work should be any different.
Companies that stick to rigid, top-down scheduling will miss the opportunity to extend an important post-pandemic form of flexibility. Unpaid time off and no-work minimums allow employees to take charge of their own schedules, which often has the positive effect of decreasing no-shows and improving worker retention. Further, using integrated staffing platforms makes self-led scheduling automatic and adaptive, making it easier for other workers to pick up shifts that complement their co-workers’ availability. Tech-empowered, self-led scheduling takes the burden off of employers and extends an important feeling of agency to workers; a textbook win-win.
Same Day, Competitive Pay
Payment technologies are making it easier to extend one of the most valuable worker offerings in the post-pandemic job market—same day payments. Providing employees with more security and more financial flexibility, same day payments are a tangible and timely reward for a hard day’s work. Frequent payments help to build early trust among hourly workers, and can make an economic difference after the hardships of COVID-19.
‘We partnered with a third-party to make same-day pay possible,’ says Anevski. ‘It’s made a big difference for our employees.’
Same-day payments, however, are only compelling if the employer is offering a competitive wage. The standards around what makes a rate competitive rose when workers started looking for new roles across traditionally parallel industries. With more digital job listings, hourly wages are being compared across hospitality, manufacturing, and food service. For employers to understand how their job offers compare to those adjacent markets requires a new level of transparency. Increasingly, workers are turning to chat forums and company review platforms and sharing the details of their compensation. Employers need to understand the shift that’s taking place and work to access real-time, location-specific data to understand the changing value of an hour and update their offerings accordingly.
‘Smart employers know they’re nothing without their teams,’ says Anevski. ‘They’re focusing their technology investments toward the pain points that workers are asking them to address.’ With a presence in the world of the digital job search and a streamlined application experience, employers will quickly see an uptick in applicants. Combined with self-led scheduling and same-day, competitive pay, they’ll be in the best position to tackle the next hill of post-COVID recovery with a team that’s committed and consistent.
