Hiring workers through online platforms shows significant growth
Hiring workers through online platforms is showing a significant increase - the turnover of companies involved in this process in the second quarter increased by 50% compared to the same period last year. Experts attribute this to an attempt by businesses to make temporary workers an alternative to hired employees, who are becoming increasingly difficult to find. At the same time, according to surveys, the traditional format of work remains more attractive for workers themselves.
Job seekers and employers do not lose interest in platform employment, despite the fact that its growth rate has decreased somewhat. This conclusion can be drawn from data on the turnover of platforms for the self-employed for the second quarter of this year, which was presented by the analytical company Smart Ranking.
Thus, in April-June, the HRtech segment (automation of work with personnel) grew by 40% compared to the same period last year, to 22.5 billion rubles. In general, for the first half of the year, the total revenue of the top 80 companies in this sector amounted to 42.2 billion rubles. The leaders in terms of revenue remain companies engaged in the selection and employment of permanent and temporary personnel - thanks to the ongoing tension in the labor market with the hiring of new employees.
At the same time, companies from the Alternative Employment segment showed even greater growth - plus 50%. It includes platforms for searching and hiring temporary employees (revenue growth by 70% year-on-year), as well as processing services (plus 35%), which deal with registration of freelance workers and transferring payments to them for work done. The growth driver here was the increasing business demand for freelancers. According to market participants, clients who previously only tested this format are now increasing orders to attract employees to the platforms.
The increase in turnover in other market segments in the second quarter was also high. Thus, the sphere of personnel electronic document management (EDF) increased revenue by 44%. Growth, however, has slowed down somewhat, since electronic document management solutions have already become the standard for many organizations. The growth of the “Personnel Recruitment” segment, which includes jobboards (online boards for posting vacancies) and recruiting systems, in the second quarter amounted to 38%, to 12 billion rubles. Leading positions in it are occupied by large players such as hh.ru and Avito Rabota.
The employee assessment and control segment grew by 35% (to RUB 1.1 billion). Increased demand for employee screening and monitoring is driven by cybersecurity needs and rising threats of data breaches. The integrated solutions segment showed growth by 28% and reached revenue of RUB 1.7 billion. Companies are increasingly choosing products that integrate hiring, onboarding, assessment and employee motivation management. Companies involved in the integration of HR solutions earned RUB 356 million, showing an increase of only 7%. The main drivers here are the desire of businesses to switch to domestic software and the integration of HR systems into business processes.
It should be noted that a significant increase in platform revenue is recorded against the backdrop of stable interest in them from citizens. As a study by the Higher School of Economics has shown, in Russia up to 16% of the working population, or approximately 10 million people, are occasionally involved in platform employment. However, over the past two years their number has increased insignificantly. The restraining factor is probably the current state of the Russian labor market - the competition of companies for workers in the context of a shortage of personnel has increased the attractiveness of hired work (for more details, see Kommersant of June 11).
