There’s a global talent shortage so what’s the solution? Freelancing Gems says we need more women in the workforce, as soon as possible.
Currently, it takes 42.2 days to place permanent roles in the Australian job market, according to recruitment software JobAdder. There is clearly plenty of opportunity in speeding up the process of connecting job seekers with those who are currently hiring.
Freelancing Gems, a job site championing women in the gig economy, say it has launched new functionality to support this. Their AI technology matches women to jobs as soon as they’re listed on the platform, reducing the delays in recruitment among current events impacting the job market such as the Great Resignation and the Great Re-Evaluation following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
CEO and co-founder Fleur Madden says, “Instead of waiting for applications to come in and 42 days to recruit, employers who use Freelancing Gems as one of their sources for connecting with talent will have an immediate response via our intelligent job matching model when a job ad is loaded.”
Madden adds that the new functionality also works to advocate for women who are hesitant to apply for positions, out of concern they don’t meet almost all of the criteria/
“By matching [women] on skills, experience, portfolios as well as values and cultural fit, it highlights roles they absolutely should be connecting with, but may not have otherwise thrown their hat in the ring,” she says.
In addition to creating a more holistic picture of a candidate for employers the site supports women looking for freelance, part-time, flexible, remote, contract and consulting roles in the gig economy– an element that has been at the core of the company’s ethos ever since it first launched at the start of Covid.
When the pandemic hit, Madden says there were 1 million people out of work and that their job platform was able to place women in over 330 new roles alone last year.
Their emphasis on the gig economy has allowed for the many women who take on caring roles and the majority of domestic responsibilities to have the flexible work options needed in order to participate in the workforce.
They’re anticipating that this new AI functionality will allow for even more impact by placing thousands more women into work during a time when employers are now seeking talent in droves but coming up against recruitment delays.
“We know the future of work has changed. We know the 40-hour work week has been flipped on its head. We know the Great Resignation is here,” says Madden.
“When we launched Freelancing Gems, it was always our intention to use technology to be a gamechanger in the talent space and this is just the first piece of our AI roadmap that will enhance how we engage with users in the marketplace.”
This new matching model has been in the works for months, according to Madden who says that her co-founder Kirsty Jackson and Dr of AI, Dr Alan McCabe were at the helm of releasing it and are still collating data to job match.
In time, freelancers on the site will also be given options to auto-match with business tools and resources suited to their industry and skill level.
Madden also adds that: “Offering pay advice on both sides of the marketplace is next to ensure that we are contributing to closing the gender pay gap for women in the gig economy, which is a key metric for us as a company.”