Elance-oDesk Becomes the First Ever Online Business Included in Industry Ranking of Top U.S. Staffing Firms
At its debut, Elance-oDesk outranks 75% of the US staffing firms listed in Staffing Industry Analysts Report
Elance-oDesk, the global leader in online work, today announced its inclusion in a new industry analyst report of top staffing firms, an achievement for both the company and the staffing industry given that this is the first inclusion of an online business. Elance-oDesk, also the only online business that made the list, joined at a rank of 29 out of 124 in the annual listing of the largest U.S. staffing firms by Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA).
“Staffing Industry Analysts changed its 2014 U.S. staffing and talent engagement market share report to include online staffing companies. Based on revenue managed through their system, Elance-oDesk is the U.S. market leader in the online staffing category,” stated Timothy Landhuis, senior research analyst.
Online firms, previously unrecognized in the report, are gaining recognition due to dramatic growth in revenue as businesses hire freelancers online. According to SIA, spend by companies on online staffing reached $1.3 billion in 2013, with Elance-oDesk accounting for more than half at $750 million. SIA has also predicted that annual spend on online staffing could reach as high as $47 billion by 2020.
Through the hiring of freelancers online, businesses can source contingent talent, hire talent on-demand and work directly with these professionals. This approach to staffing is a dramatic departure from traditional staffing firms, which act as intermediaries for their clients and the talent they wish to engage.
“We are reimagining the way businesses of all sizes can connect to talent by removing hiring friction and equipping them with the right talent in real time,” said Jon Diller, VP of Enterprise Solutions at Elance-oDesk. “An average job on our platform fills within three days and about a quarter of jobs fill in 24 hours or less. Our customers are delighted by this efficiency because it helps them get to work faster.”
The news comes almost one year after the launch of the company’s enterprise offering, Private Talent Cloud™, an online freelancer management system. The launch underscored the company’s commitment to becoming a major player in the staffing industry by adding robust compliance and reporting features.
About Elance-oDesk
Elance-oDesk is creating the world’s largest online workplaces. More than 2.5 million businesses and 8 million freelancers tap into www.Elance.com and www.oDesk.com to work together via the Internet.
As an increasingly connected and independent workforce goes online, talent—like software, shopping and communications before it—is shifting to the cloud. This shift is making it faster and easier for businesses to hire for the skills they need, when they need them, while freeing professionals from set time and place work.
Freelancers are expected to earn more than $900 million in 2014 via Elance and oDesk. For more data on online work see the Global Online Work Report. Elance-oDesk is headquartered in Mountain View, California, with offices in Redwood City, California and Oslo, Norway.