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Category: HR Tech

Microsoft lays off staff

Nearly all major tech firms have slowed headcount growth

Microsoft Corp. has announced layoffs across multiple divisions, according to media reports, joining many other tech firms that have cut staff in the unsettled economy.

Microsoft declined to say how many jobs had been cut, but a source told Axios that the layoffs numbered under 1,000.

In a statement to Axios, the tech giant said: “Like all companies, we evaluate our business priorities on a regular basis, and make structural adjustments accordingly. We will continue to invest in our business and hire in key growth areas in the year ahead,”.

The move is yet another example of large tech companies cutting jobs after earlier moving to slow or freeze hiring as the broader economy cools, Axios reported. Nearly all the major tech firms have slowed headcount growth, with many freezing all but essential hires. A number of companies have already moved to cut jobs, including Snap and Flipboard.

Microsoft has not said how many people had been laid off, nor which departments were impacted. However, The Washington Post reported layoffs affected the wargame simulation division and the Xbox gaming division.

Microsoft had 221,000 employees as of June 30, an increase of 40,000 people or 22% from the same point the prior year, GeekWire reported. It was the largest annual increase in employment in Microsoft’s history, based on data tracked by GeekWire.

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53% of small companies expect to stagnate, downsize or fold

  • UK

74% of SMEs fear inflation and rising energy costs are a threat to their business 

A report by Energy Live News has revealed that many small businesses are ‘struggling to stay afloat’, and it’s anticipated that ‘nearly 53% of small companies expect to stagnate, downsize or fold in the next year’ as a result of the energy crisis. CIPS also reported that 74% of SMEs said energy bills, inflation, and rising living costs are a long-term concern for their business. As a result, startups are failing; between January and March 2022, there were 205,171 new incorporations and 150,810 dissolutions in the UK.

With a lack of time, funds and resources at their disposal, SMEs are looking for innovative ways to save money and digitise previously costly services, leaving funds available for other areas of the business. Digital solutions such as Docue, Xero and Hubspot have seen a year-on-year growth in users, as more SMEs look to go digital and reap the benefits of centralising and organising large areas of their business. Docue has recently reported its fourth consecutive year of growth in customer subscriptions.

The Workforce Institute at UKG found that ‘the pandemic propelled 87% of the UK workforce into new ways of working underpinned by digital technology,’ and 86% of those surveyed saw how digitisation positively impacted their business. One positive outcome of digitisation is that it’s much more cost effective. Without digitising, SMEs often find themselves with substantial fees for various aspects of the business, including legal and employment contracts and policies.

In an analysis of its most popular startup contracts, Docue, a contract management solution, found that SMEs could save up to £30,000 a year by using its digital platform over traditional legal service. They concluded that the majority of startups will require a minimum of 12 legal documents and that items such as employment contracts, IP assignments and privacy policies can cost small businesses up to £1,500 each when created using a lawyer or law firm.

As such, Docue and digital platforms like it, offer novel solutions, promoting profitability, efficiency and productivity. With Docue for example, startups and SMEs can easily democratise all their contracts and work files, meaning businesses can create layer-grade legal documents and improve quality, validity and accessibility. This cuts the need for multiple, costly systems to edit, sign and store contracts and instead provides a simple solution with access to legal guidance, e-signing software and editable templates, all in one place. Where SMEs and start-ups are facing more and more pressure to save money and scale up quickly, digital solutions provide the answer.

Neil Edwards, VP of sales at Docue, commented: “The current economic crisis may be an unprecedented time for SMEs, who are thus looking to cut time, resources and funding wherever possible. However, digitising previously costly services proves to not only cut costs and leave resources for other sides of the business, but also improve efficiency and productivity.”

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LinkedIn revenue rises 17%

Hiring slowdown could impact future results

Microsoft Corp. has reported that LinkedIn revenue rose 17% to $3.66 billion in the company’s fiscal first quarter ended Sept. 30. The increase as measured in constant currency was 21%. The increase was driven by LinkedIn’s talent solutions recruiting business.

However, Microsoft warned of a hiring slowdown impacting LinkedIn when announcing upcoming guidance.

Amy Hood, Microsoft CFO commented: “For LinkedIn, we expect continued strong engagement on the platform, although results will be impacted by a slowdown in advertising spend and hiring resulting in mid-to- high-single-digits revenue growth or low to mid-teens growth in constant currency.”

Still, the company reported high levels of engagement on LinkedIn.

Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO said: “We once again saw record engagement among our more than 875 million members, with international growth increasing at nearly two times the pace as in the Unites States, in the first-quarter conference call with analysts.”

Nadella also noted there are more than 150 million subscriptions to newsletters on LinkedIn, a four-fold increase year over year.

In addition, Microsoft’s acquisition of EduBrite will allow workers to earn professional certificates directly on LinkedIn, the company announced.

Overall, total revenue at Microsoft was $50.1 billion in its fiscal first quarter, up 11% year over year — an increase of 16% in constant currency.

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TIARA Talent Tech Star Awards US – 2022 finalists announced!

Winners will be announced at TALINT Partners’ two-day Talent and TIARAS at the end of November

TALiNT Partners has announced the finalists for the 2022 TIARA Talent Tech Star Awards US! These awards finalists have shone a spotlight on the full spectrum of HR and Recruitment technology solutions for employers, recruiters, candidates and contractors.

Ken Brotherston, TALiNT Partners CEO commented: “We are thrilled to have attracted such high-quality finalists to our US Talent Tech Star Awards.

They represent a fantastic range of the sector’s highest potential start-ups, fastest growing scale-ups and top performing talent tech giants – collectively employing thousands of talented people and generating billions of dollars in sales.”

Shortlisted entries will be scored by a highly experienced, independent panel of expert judges who will convene in a few weeks to decide who will triumph in each category, as well as to crown the overall Champion of Champions.

All winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony taking place on December 1 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, as part of TALiNT Partners’ two-day Talent and Tiaras event, which brings together the talent ecosystem for two days of conferences, roundtables, dinners and culminating in our prestigious TIARA Ceremony.

Winners will be profiled in a special supplement published with TALiNT International. The full list of TIARA Talent Tech Star Awards US 2022 Finalists can be viewed here.

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Elevatus the recruitment software company has announced $10.5 million series A funding

Fundraise led by Global Ventures and Wa’ed Ventures, the venture capital arm of Aramco.

Elevatus, the Saudi-based technology company with video interviewing and recruitment software for the HR sector, announced that it completed a $10.5 million, Series A fundraise.

The funding round was co-led by Global Ventures – an MEA-focussed venture capital firm – and Wa’ed Ventures – the venture capital arm of Aramco.

With this capital injection, the HR tech provider aims to accelerate its business expansion and expand its market share. It also strives to broaden its reach by entering new markets, investing in product innovation, and propelling the advancement of HR tech. Launched in 2019, and led by co-founders Yara Burgan, Yacoub Zureikat, and Yanal Kashou – Elevatus’ next-generation AI technology streamlines the full hiring process. This enables companies to centralize core recruitment functions in one place, tackle their biggest hiring challenges, and recruit dependable top talent in less time.

Elevatus is a holistic SaaS solution that offers two core AI-powered solutions; an award-winning hiring platform EVA-REC and video interviewing software EVA-SSESS.

EVA-REC helps enterprise companies streamline recruitment functions such as: creating requisitions, automating workflows, filtering resumes, shortlisting candidates, streamlining approvals, sending offers, and onboarding new hires before day one. EVA-REC is at the forefront of its sector, with a scope and maturity that are competing with recruiting solutions of top global peers such as SAP and Oracle.

EVA-SSESS is a secure and unbiased video interviewing software that helps companies identify, hire, and rapidly develop top talent via AI-powered video assessments. EVA-SSESS has a unique AI-matching algorithm that is highly intuitive, comprehensive, and currently unmatched in the world. This core and novel AI algorithm is offered as an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), so organizations can enhance and advance their existing systems and accelerate their hiring innovatively.

Elevatus has rapidly become a popular solution for over 150 companies including blue-chip brands such as Samsung, RE/MAX, Omantel, Arab Bank, Dr. Suleiman Al-Habib Medical Group, Virgin Mobile, King Abdullah University of Science & Technology, and STC Academy. It has also integrated its technology with world-class technology providers such as SAP, Oracle, Zoom, Slack, DocuSign, Google Meet, Glassdoor, Indeed, and more.

Elevatus, which began its operations over three years ago, has helped companies worldwide conduct over 3 million video assessments and recruit thousands of candidates to date. It also improved its AI algorithm accuracy from 65% to 94% over the course of three years. In addition, Elevatus has also grown its headcount by three times.

Yara Burgan, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Elevatus, said: “Our team of high-calibre talent is shaping the future of HR. From day one, we were confident that Elevatus would exponentially succeed and reach even bigger heights. We took great strides in identifying client needs and adapting to the marketplace. Elevatus is meeting those needs head on; through our best-of-breed AI solutions that offer the right level of scalability, innovation, and agility – to help us accommodate and grow.” 

Noor Sweid, Managing Partner at Global Ventures, commented: “We are thrilled to welcome Elevatus to the portfolio. In 2021, we witnessed the growth and maturing of the global HR tech market, driven by new expectations from employees for experience-driven, frictionless application processes, and from employers for engaging and streamlined hiring. Capturing this opportunity is a brilliant team with an already-proven track record of building and scaling the business and demonstrable traction as well as a holistic product automating, optimizing and accelerating hiring processes for businesses globally.”

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UK’s largest app for flexible shift work launches new campaign

  • UK

The gig economy may be key to overcoming staffing shortages

For a lot of us, the pandemic shifted the way we see work for good. More people began to embrace flexibility and seek out new working options.

But flexibility is something that’s been at the heart of the ethos for temporary staffing platform GIG long before the pandemic.

Flexible shift work app GIG means for candidates that there are no requirements for working 9-5, 5 days a week. Instead, they’re able to choose when they work and where they work, as much or as little as they like. That means candidates could be working as a Warehouse Operative one day, and serving behind a bar the next.

The new campaign features, Dave, the star of GIG’s new Sky Go ad campaign, and he does exactly that. Dave picks the gigs that work for him, from warehousing, to hospitality, to events – meaning he’s got time to spend with the people who matter.

In a post-pandemic, skills short economy, flexible working has become more than a buzzword, it’s essential to the future of staffing.

TALiNT International has reported time and time again that candidates in the job market are continuously looking for flexible working options; those jobs that allow candidates to work around their studies, caring responsibilities or if they merely want to spend quality time with their family. But flexibility doesn’t just have to be for those looking at part time hours either as this could result in lower pay. With GIG potential candidates can still work full time, when and where they want. For instance, workers joining the GIG hub model may work full time 6 days a week, with many opting to work away at GIG’s warehouse partners, supplying some of the UKs biggest retailers.

The gig economy hasn’t always had a good reputation, but GIG shows that this flexibility doesn’t have to come at a cost. Their workers are guaranteed the basic rights that other gig economy providers often miss, such as holiday pay, and they push all their partners to offer well above minimum wage rates.

Antony Woodcock, MD of GIG commented: “Flexible working can offer a diverse range of opportunities for all, and that it doesn’t just have to be something that [fills a gap]. The whole concept behind the campaign is to showcase the opportunities that flexibility with GIG can bring. If you don’t want to be tied down to a single job, working hours that don’t fit your life, then there is another option. If you’re looking for regular shifts, training and experience to be able to build a career, that’s also something you can achieve with GIG.”

For businesses, there are clear gains to be made too ­– flexibility is not only a vital way to deal with the peaks and troughs that an increasingly unpredictable world throws their way, but it may also be the key to unlocking the talent needed to overcome staffing shortages.

With both businesses and workers being hit by recent increases in the cost of living, flexible solutions such as GIG can be a much-needed lifeline.

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TALiNT International’s Top 100 Staffing Companies issue is out now!

  • UK

The Top 100 Staffing Companies issue of TALiNT International is out now! This latest edition of the go-to read in the total talent ecosystem is a true collaboration that not only celebrates the incredible growth that staffing firms have yielded over the last year, but is also a culmination of commentary and insight from members of TALiNT Partners’ membership programme, guest contributors and more.

The jewel in this crown is most certainly the the Top 100 Staffing Companies rankings. TALiNT Partners ranked staffing firms in the UK according to turnover and they’re delighted to see several TALiNT Partners members come out on top!

We spoke to Ben Kaminsky, Founder and CEO of EVA.AI | Powering HR 4.0, and discussed the conversational and predictive AI that engages users from a friendly process automation platform that personalises the digital experiences of candidates.

Other features include Harnessing the hidden workforce which unpacks how recruiters can bring more marginalised talent into the workforce and help employers remove unnecessary barriers to more diverse, resilient, and loyal talent; how DE&I has become an important differentiator for recruiters and why ESG is fast moving to centre stage for recruiters and their clients and much more.

Read the full magazine here: https://hubs.ly/Q01m_cXL0

This issue of the magazine will also be printed in limited numbers and distributed to our members and delegates at the World Leaders in Recruitment Summit on 13th of October.

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Opportunities for assignments with Ministry of Defence

  • UK

Flexible Healthcare Resourcing platform is a first for MoD

A new digital Staff Bank has been rolled out for the Ministry of Defence, allowing compliant, flexible workers priority access to assignments across the UK and abroad as they become available.

The platform was launched by HCRG (Health Care Resourcing Group) and designed in collaboration with healthcare staffing specialists Patchwork Health.

The platform will be used to assign temporary doctors, nurses, dental professionals, and allied health professionals. The assigned flexible workers will support the permanent military and civilian workforce in the provision of primary, as well as secondary, healthcare, and dental and mental health services.

Assignments will be available in UK and Overseas tri-service military locations, offering a unique opportunity for healthcare professionals to practice their skill base in various primary and secondary healthcare, dental and mental health service settings.

Healthtech company Patchwork holds various collaborative banks for NHS Trusts throughout the UK. Their technology will allow members of the Staff Bank to accept assignments through an app designed by and for healthcare professionals. The app is created to provide a more efficient assignment process and ensure every flexible worker is fully compliant.

The Staff Bank welcomes applications from all healthcare professionals, including those with previous locum or permanent MoD experience, but current permanent MOD Military and MOD Civil Servants cannot join the platform.

Gezz van Zwanenberg, COO at HCRG, said: “Our teams have worked previously as master vendor supplier of healthcare staff to the MOD for a number of years historically, so it’s an honour for HCRG to have now been chosen to provide the organisation with their flexible healthcare resource.”

Dr Anas Nader, CEO and co-founder of Patchwork Health, commented: “Digital staff banks are the future of temporary healthcare provision. They offer a dynamic, reliable and safe way of ensuring healthcare settings have the clinicians they need, when they need them. Crucially, this system not only drives up safe worker levels, but also makes the experience better for the individual worker, meaning the entire system benefits. We’re delighted to be partnering with HCRG to deliver this critical project to the MOD.”

Russell Pidducci, Account Director at HCRG, commented: “This new Staff Bank offers flexible opportunities that will interest a wide range of healthcare professionals. The technology makes it incredibly easy to view and book assignments, ranging from single day opportunities to longer term assignments lasting a few months. Whereas previously healthcare professionals may have been waiting on the call from locum agencies, we’re now providing instant, priority access to assignments as they go live via the app, allowing for professionals to self-book assignments 24/7.”

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Access Group launches Access FastTrack 360

Access FastTrack 360 is a powerful cloud-based payroll and billing system

Business management software provider The Access Group, has announced the launch of Access FastTrack360 in the UK market, following its acquisition of the Australian-based business, FastTrack360 in March 2022. Access FastTrack360 is a powerful cloud-based payroll and billing system that caters for the unique and complex needs of recruitment agencies allowing them to pay workers and clients with precision from one system that can be uniquely configured to their business.

Access Recruitment, a division of the Access Group, supports agencies from start-up to scale-up through to large enterprise players around the globe with technology that spans the entire front to back-office ecosystem. Access FastTrack360 will sit alongside their existing Access Pay and Bill software and outsourced solutions, providing customers with the choice of the industry’s most comprehensive range of pay solutions on the market. Access FastTrack360 will seamlessly connect with top recruitment CRMs including Vincere, for an end-to-end system that dramatically reduces the number of manual touchpoints in the payment and billing process thereby increasing accuracy and efficiency.

Paul Vogel, Managing Director of Access Recruitment said: “We are excited to launch the world-class pay and bill solution that is Access FastTrack360 into the UK to augment our existing pay solutions. Access FastTrack360 offers a modern, configurable pay and bill solution that removes a whole host of admin for agencies and is integrated with candidate and client portals for a better experience.”

FastTrack360’s powerful pay and bill solution was recently selected by ManpowerGroup to underpin their international operations building on their 25-year relationship in Australia. The single cloud-based platform was selected for its breadth of functionality and flexibility that will be configured across a broad range of different country requirements.

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New digital right-to-work checks for British workers to begin in October

  • UK

Virtual right-to-work checks no longer possible

From 1 October 2022, employers must adopt new digital right-to-work checks for British and Irish nationals. The only alternative will be to go back to in-person manual checks.

According to global mobility and immigration advisers Vialto Partners, employers will no longer be able to use the virtual checks introduced by the Home Office under its ‘Covid-19 adjusted right to work checks’ concession.

The digital right-to-work checks are likely to speed up the required checks, ensuring that they are less cumbersome for employers and less disruptive for employees, especially for large, multi-site businesses.

All UK employers are expected to conduct right-to-work checks on all British and Irish nationals as well as EEA and Non-EEA nationals. If discovered, employers can see fines of up to £20,000 per illegal employee.

The Home Office has suggested that businesses conduct right-to-work checks for British and Irish nationals via an authorised Identification Service Provider with accredited Identification Documentation Verification Technology.

Lyudmyla Davies, Partner at Vialto Partners, said: “Right to work checks exist to reduce the risk of employers employing staff that do not have the right to work in the UK. Traditionally, they would be conducted in person with an employer or HR adviser checking a passport or identity card.”

“The Home Office had intended to move to online right-to-work checks in April this year but pushed back following delays in certifying technology providers. From 1 October, right-to-checks for British and Irish nationals must be done using Identification Validation Technology or they must revert back to the cumbersome process of manually checking and certifying original documents in person.”

“The Government would like employers to use a certified Identification Service Provider, saying it takes reassurance from the certification process and that employers should too. It will not, however, be essential.”

“Employers have a short window of time to adopt this new regime, and those that get it wrong can be fined £20,000 for each illegal worker and lose their ability to sponsor overseas workers.”

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