Jennifer Goldman

The contingent workforce industry is at an inflection point and the inflection is caused by rapid adoption of AI based Freelance Management systems transforming how companies think about both their contingent and total talent strategies. Staffing Industry Analysts just released their 2025 FMS Global Landscape Report, and the data tells a story about fundamental industry transformation, not just technology adoption. For decades, managing contractors meant navigating fragmented systems, compliance headaches, and limited visibility into spend and performance. Organizations paid the price in time, risk, and missed opportunities. Freelancers dealt with payment delays and administrative friction that got in the way of doing great work. Freelancer Management Systems are fundamentally changing this equation. The value creation is profound: Risk mitigation at scale: Companies are moving from reactive compliance management to proactive risk mitigation across multiple jurisdictions. The cost of getting this wrong has never been higher. Data becomes intelligence: Real-time visibility into contractor spend, performance, and workforce composition is enabling strategic decisions that were simply impossible before. CFOs and procurement teams finally have the data they need. Speed creates advantage: What used to take weeks (sourcing, onboarding, contracting, payments) now happens in days or hours. In fast-moving markets, this operational speed translates directly to competitive advantage. Integration multiplies value: When FMS platforms connect seamlessly with existing HR, finance, and procurement systems, organizations multiply the value of their entire tech stack rather than adding another disconnected tool. What the SIA research makes clear: the organizations winning with contingent talent aren’t simply using better software. They’re fundamentally rethinking their approach to workforce agility, unlocking talent pools they couldn’t access before, and building operational capabilities that become genuine competitive advantages. The spreadsheet era of contractor management isn’t just outdated. It’s leaving measurable value on the table: slower time to hire, elevated compliance risk, limited workforce intelligence, and constrained access to specialized talent. The question isn’t whether to adopt FMS technology. It’s how quickly your organization can capture the value it creates. In the link in the comments or just DM me to get the SIA’s YunoJuno showcase report to understand what leading organizations look for when evaluating an FMS and how YunoJuno supports modern contingent workforce strategies. ‍ #ContingentWorkforce #FreelanceManagement #FutureOfWork #Procurement YunoJuno

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The top 10 Talent Acquisition plays of 2025 (based on conversations with 75 leading TA operators) Most of the gains this year didn’t come from shiny new tools. They came from executing fundamentals with real rigor. Here’s what moved the needle 👇 1. Persona-based candidate messaging Teams that interviewed real employees and built messaging around actual motivations consistently outperformed generic outreach. 2. Email sequencing (done properly) Not “send one nice message and hope.” Structured, multi-touch sequences that compound over time. 3. Firmographic market mapping Using tools like Dealroom or Crunchbase to understand who you’re really hiring from before sourcing even starts. 4. Centralised messaging + A/B testing High-performing team leads provided frameworks, tested messages, and scaled what worked. 5. Recruiter battle cards Prepared responses for common objections, grounded in real value propositions. 6. Candidate experience as a competitive advantage Forward-looking, thoughtful feedback that creates goodwill, even for candidates you reject. 7. AI as a multiplier, not a role replacer AI taking admin, triage, and prep work, recruiters focusing on judgment and relationships. 8. Systemised AI use across teams Not “everyone experimenting in isolation,” but shared workflows, prompts, and standards. 9. Sourcing as a strategic intelligence function. Top teams treat sourcing as a way to gather market data, signal shifts, and inform strategy. 10. Hiring like a GTM motion Clear ICPs. Tiered effort. Measurable funnels. TA borrowing discipline from sales and marketing. The pattern? Nothing here is magic. It’s about systems, clarity, and execution quality. 2026 won’t reward teams that do more. It’ll reward teams that do the right things, consistently. Which ones have you experimented with?

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Colorado State University has launched online, self-paced Workday training courses for employees and managers and scheduled both in-person and virtual open houses to support the upcoming Workday HR system go-live in January 📘☁️. These sessions cover essential navigation, time entry, leave requests, approvals, and other key processes that will replace legacy systems come Jan. 5. Check out this insightful article because preparing now can make your transition to Workday more effective and stress-free #FutureOfWork #Workday #WorkplaceLearning

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The Chick-fil-A Manifesto: What Service and Value Should Mean in Staffing Across multiple conversations with contingent workforce leaders this month, a familiar frustration trend emerged: the staffing industry has become commoditized. Across the entire ecosystem, suppliers, MSPs, VMSs, HR Tech, and the clients they serve have found ever-more-creative ways to devalue ourselves. Vendors underbid, clients squeeze at the expense of quality, candidates are ghosted, and hiring managers are stuck navigating a system that feels more like a transaction machine than a talent solution. Here’s a radical thought: what if we looked to Chick-fil-A as the model to improve? Yes, the chicken place. Chick-fil-A generates 2x the revenue and profit per location than any other fast-food chain and they are closed on Sundays!! Why? Not because their prices are lowest, but because their experience is exceptional. In the early 2000s, they hired The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. consultants to train their teams. The “My pleasure” became more than a tagline; it was a cultural shift. They accept just 0.5% of franchise applicants, 10x more selective than Harvard. They invest in people and service, and it pays. Meanwhile, much of the staffing industry has done the opposite. We’ve raced to the bottom, cut costs, automated relationships, and measured success in fill rates and spend, not outcomes or experience. We’ve made contingent labor feel, frankly, disposable. There is an opportunity here, not just for Ursus, Inc. , but our entire industry. What if we reimagined our industry around value and experience, not just cost? What if our recruiters were trained like hospitality pros, focused on respect, response time, and true partnership? What if hiring managers got more than just resumes, and contingent workers felt pride, not disconnection? For procurement and program owners, this is your moment too. Your mandate and your responsibility are bigger than just compliance and cost containment. You shape and curate how your brand is experienced by thousands of workers who aren’t on your payroll but are part of your team. In today’s fiercely competitive market, experience drives retention, and reputation is currency. Do your contingent workers feel part of something great, or just another number in the system? You get what you pay for. But more importantly, you keep what you value. We don’t have to be the fast food of professional services. We can choose to be the Chick-fil-A. It starts with redefining value: from transactions to trust, from price to partnership, from “filling seats” to fueling teams. Service isn’t a commodity. Talent isn’t a transaction. It’s our pleasure. Chick-fil-A Restaurants #Staffing #ContingentWork

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Thanks for the collab HR Tech Outlook, and letting me share my perspective on winning the talent battle in a competitive hiring landscape. Hiring today is more competitive than ever. The organizations that consistently win have re-written the script. Post-and-pray is cool—if you're ok hiring last. Winning organizations are proactively building talent communities and treating recruiting as a strategic function of business operations. Hawx Smart Pest Control and PCM Encore understand this strategy and are running not walking to win the talent battle. Link to article: https://lnkd.in/e_3rmmX4

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Most TA teams have solved the basics, but the best ones go deeper. If your hiring process still hits invisible roadblocks, you're not alone. The truth is, elite talent acquisition teams aren't just reacting to problems, they’re preventing them before they start. From friction mapping and predictive agility, to market intelligence and recruiter enablement, high-performing teams treat RPO recruiting and talent acquisition as strategic functions — not back-office tasks. In our latest blog, we break down: ✔️ What elite TA teams do differently ✔️ How to identify high-cost bottlenecks ✔️ Why recruitment process outsourcing companies are leading this shift ✔️ How to turn good hiring practices into great ones Not sure where to begin? Start with our TA Maturity Assessment and your shortcut to identifying hidden inefficiencies and unlocking smarter, faster hiring. Swipe the carousel for key insights, then head to the blog (link in comments) to dive in. #RPO #RPORecruitment #WhatIsRPO #RecruitmentProcessOutsourcing #ContingentEmployee #RPOHiring #TAMaturity #TalentStrategy #LevelUPHCS

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🔍 Why Searching Directly on Job Boards Finds Better Candidates Than Using Aggregated API Searches In today’s fast-paced recruiting landscape, automation is essential—but not all automation delivers the same value. If your recruiting team is relying on aggregated API searches provided by job boards, you might be leaving high-quality candidates on the table. Here’s why searching directly within a job board’s native platform yields more relevant candidates than consolidated or API-based searches. 🧠 1. Native Search Algorithms Are Smarter (and Evolving Faster) Each job board (like Dice, Monster, CareerBuilder, or Indeed) invests heavily in fine-tuning its internal search engine. These platforms continuously optimize results using proprietary algorithms that factor in: Search behavior patterns - Resume freshness and engagement metrics - Keyword-context matching - Real-time profile activity When using a job board’s own UI, you benefit from all of this. But when accessing resumes via an API, you get a watered-down, generalized dataset—often lacking these contextual layers. 🔍 2. APIs Are Limited by Design While APIs are convenient, they’re built for interoperability, not discovery. APIs usually provide only a subset of candidate data due to privacy and performance constraints. Resume parsing and keyword matching are simplified—meaning relevance scores and rank ordering are often lost. Real-time results can lag or get cached, showing outdated or less-engaged candidates. In contrast, direct search taps into the most current and complete candidate pool—with richer filtering and sorting options. 🎯 3. Better Boolean, Filters, and Relevance Controls When your recruiters use the job board interface directly, they can: Customize Boolean strings with more precision - Use advanced filters (by skills, titles, locations, work authorization, etc.) - Dynamically adjust queries based on instant feedback from results APIs may expose some filters—but rarely all. That missing granularity leads to broader, less useful results. 💬 4. You Miss Platform-Specific “Signals” Certain platforms reward interaction: - Viewed profiles bubble to the top - Recent activity signals higher intent Premium filters help surface passive but highly qualified candidates These nuanced cues rarely get exposed through an API—and they make all the difference in fast-paced recruiting. ✅ The Bottom Line If your recruiting workflow relies solely on aggregated search APIs, you’re likely getting quantity over quality. For strategic roles or urgent openings, direct platform search consistently delivers more targeted, up-to-date, and actionable results.

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TA isn’t just a department. It’s a business lever. Years ago, I thought success in TA meant building great programs and hitting every metric. We had candidate engagement platforms, recruiting pipelines, retention dashboards; all running smoothly. But something was missing. I wasn’t part of the conversations that shaped the company’s future. And I couldn’t figure out why. Then I heard a question from our CEO that changed everything: “If we hire 500 people next quarter, what happens to our margins?” I didn’t have the answer. Not because I lacked skill, but because I was solving for TA outcomes, not business outcomes. That moment reframed my entire approach. Now, every initiative I lead starts with four questions: Is this solving a top business priority? Is it lean and efficient? Does it give us a competitive edge? Will it scale without breaking what works? When I pitch a program today, I don’t talk about time to fill. I talk about cost savings, revenue impact, and strategic advantage. Same work. Different language. And thanks to amazing leaders like Jason Barker, Theodore Bender PhD, MBA and Paul Lopez - a bigger seat at the table. If you’re in TA, here’s the challenge: stop optimizing for TA success. Start optimizing for business success. Because the most impactful TA leaders aren’t just great at recruiting - they think like operators. What’s one initiative you’re working on right now that could be reframed through a CEO’s lens?

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🌎 2025 in Reflection: Recruiting Across All 50 States As we close out 2025, one thing we've noticed as an organization that supports the contingent workforce ecosystem across all 50 states is clearer than ever: recruiting in the United States isn’t one-size-fits-all. Every region carries its own blend of cultural values, business priorities, and workforce dynamics — and those shape how talent is attracted, engaged, and retained. Here are a few insights we gathered from this year’s work across the U.S. and our industry focuses: 2025 Insights by Region: ✨ The South — Relationship-driven hiring. Community ties and personal trust remain central, especially in light and heavy industrial staffing. 🏔️ The Mountain West — Rapid growth in energy, construction, and tech is colliding with lifestyle priorities like work-life balance and outdoor culture. Recruiting success often depends on positioning flexibility as much as pay. 🏙️ The Northeast — Competitive, compliance-heavy markets where speed meets regulatory rigor. Candidates expect clarity, efficiency, and benefits literacy. 🌴 The West Coast — Innovation culture drives demand for skills in tech, green energy, and healthcare. Engagement hinges on values alignment—sustainability, DEI, and career development. 🚛 The Midwest — Strong in manufacturing, logistics, and food production. Stability, reliability, and long-term employment resonate most with candidates here. What We’re Doing to Support these Regions Stronger in 2026: ✨ The South — Deepening community partnerships with trade schools and workforce boards to strengthen trust-based pipelines for industrial, food service, trades, and facilities sectors. 🏔️ The Mountain West — Prioritizing flexible work models and competitive relocation support to align with lifestyle-driven candidates. 🏙️ The Northeast — Expanding compliance and benefits education and training of general staff, ensuring candidates quickly understand complex employer offerings. 🌴 The West Coast — Investing further in values-based recruiting, highlighting opportunities tied to sustainability, DEI, and career growth in high-demand sectors. 🚛 The Midwest — Enhancing our long-term workforce retention programs to match candidate preferences for stability and reliability. Across all 50 states, one lesson stands out: to connect with talent, you must also connect with culture. Here’s to 2026—building stronger pipelines, deeper relationships, and nationwide impact. 🚀 #RecruitmentStrategy #TalentEngagement #WorkforceTrends #StaffingSolutions #HiringExcellence

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Beware of Resume Scams Disguised as Recruitment Help If a so-called "recruiter" reaches out claiming your resume isn’t “AI-friendly” and pushes you to pay $15 to convert it - without providing a job description, company name, or any real details - it’s likely a scam. These scammers prey on job seekers' urgency and hope, offering a fake opportunity just to make a quick buck. Legitimate recruiters will share clear job info and won’t charge you upfront for basic resume formatting. Always do your research and trust your instincts - if it sounds shady, it probably is.

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