Disruptions

Adia: The Adecco Group and Infosys Make Platform Economy ‘Work’ for All

Adecco Group, a leading global HR Solutions provider, and Infosys jointly transformed the staffing industry with their new business, Adia, by bringing together data, domain, technology, and speed using the platform economy to create an innovative new model in the world of staffing.

The world of work is changing fast. Global megatrends are transforming the way we live and work. Geopolitical and economic uncertainty have made agility and flexibility the watchwords of our age. Having the right skills ‘on-demand’ is vital for businesses to survive. Populations are ageing in many parts of the world – North America, Europe and some Asian countries – and the workforce is shrinking, leading to talent shortages and turning the spotlight on migration from demographically young nations. Technology, fuelled by AI, Machine Learning, and Big Data, has automated some traditionally ‘human’ tasks, changing the nature of many jobs, while creating others. Digitization and new forms of social interaction are fuelling the rise of the platform economy, where fulfilment happens on-demand and physical location matters lesser and lesser.

As each day passes, the platform economy gains traction in new areas, having already conquered the turf in transportation and hospitality. In the world of work, it is making its presence felt through more flexible employment models and lifestyle choices: an estimated 150 million people in North America and Europe have taken the leap into independent working in the growing gig economy.

Just-in-Time Staffing comes to life with Adia

Among trends of asset-light business models, micro-consumption and fulfilment on-demand, we are also witnessing the emergence of another – hiring staff “just in time”, for as long as needed. Large organisations today employ as much as 40 percent of their staff through non-permanent and flexible work arrangements.

At Adecco Group, we have been looking into ways to enable our global and local business customers to unlock value in the global talent pool and to harness the full possibilities of the platform and gig economy. In a talent scarce environment, our goal is to give businesses easy access to the resources they need, anytime and anywhere.

As the global leader in HR solutions looking to enter the platform economy, we had two options – join an existing ecosystem or build a marketplace of our own. We decided to do the latter, and worked on a co-creation model with our technology partner, Infosys.

What did We do Differently?

Infosys and the Adecco Group worked together to co-create a new digital experience for jobseekers with:

• A fast-fail approach
• Collaboration through “single team” mindset – rethinking typical client-vendor models
• Scale beyond imagination
• Adopting the best and the latest in technology services

In October 2016, we launched Adia, an online staffing marketplace for flexible workers. Adia transforms the way enterprises manage supply and demand for talent in the digital economy. It allows companies to hire flexible workers easily in areas such as hospitality, catering, and events, and it gives workers the opportunity to manage their career needs around their lifestyles, all at the touch of a button. The recruitment-on-demand platform is already breathing new life into businesses in Switzerland, UK, US, and Germany, with imminent plans to roll out into more markets in the years ahead.

Adia caters to this need by making it easier and more efficient for companies in a number of industries to hire flexible staff for short-term placements, while offering a better experience for both employers and candidates. The platform employs a Machine Learning algorithm to match candidates to job openings based on their role, level of experience, location preference, availability, rating and historical reliability. Companies can hire staff through the platform 24/7, allocate shifts, add their existing team to their Adia account, issue contracts, approve time sheets, and initiate payment to workers easily. Candidates are instantly matched to opportunities upon registration, they receive personalised job offers based on their profile, skills, availability and location, and can commence work within a few hours of signing the contract on their mobile device. They can also submit their timesheets via the app and receive weekly payments.

Adia, along with our other new platforms for recruiting freelancers and professionals, such as YOSS, perfectly illustrates the Adecco Group’s digital innovation strategy. We believe innovating to fuel the platform economy through talent and technology will allow us to fulfil our mission to shape the future of work. Within that, our platforms will play an important role in the labour market ecosystem, as we innovate to deliver better services for job seekers and clients, and create new opportunities across all forms of work.

More than a job portal – Equal opportunity to work

The platform model has disrupted and revolutionised existing ways of business in every industry that it has penetrated, creating huge digital value for companies while giving consumers greater power through a differentiated user experience. In addition, platforms which facilitate a sharing economy have the potential to generate greater social value by democratising access, creating opportunity for all, and ushering in more fairness and transparency.

In the context of flexible work, Adia is having a positive impact by making it much easier and faster for jobseekers to find relevant, vetted roles in their field. In minimising the need for human intermediation within the recruitment process, the platform overcomes limitations imposed by recruiters’ working hours and workload capacity.

The platform’s marketplace makes for efficient and agile staffing, with candidates finding and beginning new jobs, on-demand. What’s more, because Adia makes all payments online, payments are fast and efficient. Flexible workers are granted the same employment conditions as the Adecco Group associates, with Adia contributing to their social security benefits and fulfilling the administrative procedures. This way, employers always gain the flexibility they need and workers are granted the security they deserve.

In short

As the platform economy grows from strength to strength, it makes sense for incumbent organisations to get involved and to show leadership. Many companies are plugging into existing ecosystems which belong to third parties (for example, McDonald’s tying up with Uber to deliver orders to consumers’ doorsteps), while some are creating new platforms in partnership with others (such as Philips HealthSuite, which has partnered up with Salesforce, Amazon AWS IoT, and Alibaba AliCloud).

Adia is the perfect illustration of innovation within the Adecco Group and reflects our clear vision for the future of work. By creating Adia, we are able to take advantage of technological innovation to capture new revenue growth opportunities and cater to the shifting needs of clients and candidates in an ever-changing, uncertain world. Platforms such as Adia will help us make the future work for everyone.