LONDON, July 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
The modern day Holy Grail seems to be the search for the elusive
work/life balance. But a recent survey undertaken by the makers of
tabs® (http://www.mytabsapp.com), a powerful
mobile solution enabling live, fully automated staff deployment for
businesses that employ, or agencies that use shift, contract,
freelance and temporary workers, has uncovered some revolutionary
results on that search front.
The survey highlights how freelancers, contractors and even zero
contract shift workers are utilising smart phone technology to
create greater freedom of working hours, greater choice in work
placements, greater speed in securing chosen placements and time
savings on paperwork to provide a much enhanced work/life balance.
Unfortunately, they also state that recruitment agencies and
employers are lagging way behind them in the technology stakes and
need to catch up if they are to snare the very best workers for
their businesses and clients.
The survey shows that 88% of all freelance, contractors
and zero hours workers use smart technology when it comes to
searching for work placements, using job boards on smartphones or
tablets. However, 78% said that after the initial search has
been done it's a manual process afterwards to secure the work and
that is time consuming; a staggering 90% believe technology
would speed the entire process up.
Their inspired use of technology has resulted in a seismic shift
in loyalty with 87% saying they are no longer loyal to one
recruitment agency and work across the books of many, scheduling
working lives around their own time and family commitments. This is
creating a balance sadly lacking in many permanent positions, where
standard working hours are supplemented with a liberal dose of
overtime, often unpaid, that seems to be the expected requirement
for career progression in an increasingly 24/7 world.
81% of freelancers and agency staff said that their
biggest bugbear is recruitment agencies being behind the times when
it comes to embracing smartphone technology to manage jobs,
timesheets and invoicing, with 71% stating that agencies
they've worked with still use paper timesheets.
Furthermore, 79% say the way agencies manage documentation
is outdated and should be done using smart technology. 64%
say there is little communication with the agency outside of just
placing them on a job, while 72% would like to have a two
communication via smart technology with the agency, utilising
social media in the job marketplace as source of information about
individual companies, not just positions available.
Greg Wixted, Head of Innovation
at Xpert iLabs, inventors of tabs® says, "Freelancers and
zero hours staff are now able to pick and choose their own hours
allowing particular sections of the community like working mums to
work around their family's needs. As we all know life today is fast
and things change quickly; being able to react to a job alert as
your situation allows and wherever you are, via apps and portals
such as tabs®, is radically changing working life. Zero
hours positions, previously seen as menial and factory jobs, are
now being seen as enablers of life choices."
It's not only those at the freelance and temporary coal face
that believe technology must be used to greater effect; industry
leaders in the recruitment field have cited 5 key technological
factors that will play out over the coming year including:
- Content and community-enabled careers portal
- Mobile jobseeker ready
- Understanding BIG data and context
- Content and community-enabled careers portal
- Mobile jobseeker ready
All of which tabs® provides to employers and employees
alike, via standard or custom options of the ground-breaking end to
end innovative platform with features that include:
- Geo-location and real time temporary worker availability and
search function
- Multiple layers of search criteria displayed in a simple
format
- Live temporary assignment and job alerting and acceptance via
App and SMS to either the agency or HR teams temp or freelance
candidate pool
- Quickest travel route to the job for the temporary workers with
reporting & travel directions
- A unique client portal for recruitment agency clients to search
and issue live jobs & shift requests allowing for 24/7
and out of hours service
- Automated timesheet sign off and approval via a dedicated
smartphone App
- Automated submission and approval of compliance documents via
the App
- Automated client billing and invoicing for agencies and
freelance contractors
- Client/manager evaluation and rating of temporary staff and
freelancers
- Social media integration for candidate acquisition
- A full suite of Management Information reporting
- Postcode search and address verification
So, if technology is 'the great enabler' it's gratifying to know
that it is also proving to be 'the great leveller', where blue
collar positions are now positions of choice for those for whom a
work/life balance is more attractive than an all-consuming power
career. Long live the recruitment revolution!
NOTES TO EDITORS
Greg Wixted -
Founder, Head of Invention and Managing Director of Xpert
ILABSLtd
Greg is a dynamic and committed award winning integrated
marketer & innovation professional with boundless energy and
deep understanding of what makes consumers tick, which stems from
his training as a strategy planner. He has regularly worked with
senior blue chip boards to develop strategic and innovative ideas
to evolve businesses and help them grow and co-authored a book on
innovation and creativity. He has brought 10 new innovative
businesses to market and managed over 50 innovation.
If you would like further information on tabs® , or you
would like to schedule an interview, please contact either
Greg Wixted or Irena Dragic at Xpert I LABS over
T: +44-(0)20-3-290-7757
E:irena@wearexpert.com or greg@wearexpert.com. Please visit
http://www.mytabsapp.com to find out more about tabs®, including
videos and screenshots of the app.