Among many things, Jeff Bezos, the founder and former CEO of Amazon, is known for his “Day 1” philosophy. The idea is that businesses always have new growth opportunities, no matter how much success there has been in the past. As Bezos bluntly put it, “Day 2 is stasis. Followed by irrelevance. Followed by excruciating, painful decline. Followed by death. And that is why it is always Day 1.” A Day 1 mindset helps fight the entropy and stagnation that often plagues previously successful organizations.

This way of thinking applies to the staffing industry due to a number of factors that were previously in place and then greatly accelerated by the pandemic. Today, a chronic shortage of skilled talent is transforming into a full-blown talent crisis as well as a revolution in thinking about the role of flexible work in people’s lives. All this while the growth of tech-based tools is transforming people’s ability to easily find, connect with and do their work.

As a result, while the staffing industry has grown substantially over the past several decades, there is little reason to think that growth story is over. Instead, we are now at Day 1, and these next few years are likely to be the most remarkable and innovative time that the industry — in fact, the entire workforce solutions ecosystem — has ever seen.

From shortage to crisis. In nearly every conversation I have with industry execs, the No. 1 factor that they cite as an impediment to growth is the ability to find appropriately skilled workers. To highlight one summary number, workforce participation in the US is now at its lowest level since March 1977, with just 61.9% of working age people employed or actively looking for work. Since February 2020, approximately 2.3 million Americans have exited the labor force.

The good news for staffing firms is their work will be valued more than ever. Staffing firms that seize this moment have an opportunity to move from commodity status to that of trusted partner.

Let’s get flexible. The pandemic has also expanded the mindset of workers and employers around the benefits and reality of remote and flexible work. The pandemic has forced significant experimentation in innovative work styles which has been largely successful. Now it’s clear that despite challenges, business can operate productively in ways seldom previously considered.

That mindset change can’t be overemphasized in its potential long-term impact on the staffing industry and contingent work. Once workers and employers have had a taste of a different way to work, it will be very hard to turn back.

Additionally, clients once limited to local markets are suddenly receptive to recruiting workers on a regional, national or sometimes even global basis. This dramatic increase in the size of the potential talent pool presents staffing firms with significant opportunity to quickly find exactly the right person for clients.

Finally, the internet and tech-driven platforms continue to make it easier than ever to find, recruit and engage workers. This is leading to disruptions in traditional staffing models and an industrywide drive for digital transformation. While the threat to the industry is real, I believe the upside in terms of recruiter productivity for the industry is likely to be much more significant. Take for instance the story of Aya Healthcare, which was on a journey from a traditional staffing player to more of a staffing platform. The pandemic and the urgent need for travel nurses accelerated demand and led to nearly tenfold growth in nurses out working with relatively modest growth in number of recruiters. This has been enabled largely through the implementation of a staffing platform that provides more direct connection between workers and work.

I’m excited about that future and the industry leaders who will make it happen. At our upcoming Executive Forum, Feb. 28 to March 3 in Austin (www.siexecutiveforum.com), we will explore all of these factors, with dedicated tracks focused on the talent crisis, digital transformation and the pivotal role that leadership plays in shaping the future. I hope that you will join us as we look to the strategies that will help staffing executives thrive and grow in an environment that presents Day 1 opportunities for an increasingly important and vital industry.