When media speculation about workforce automation picked up about five years ago, SIA predicted that the staffing firm of the future would offer human options for getting work done alongside AI and robotic alternatives. Therefore, it is gratifying that Kelly Services has made the prediction come true.
The ability to provide digital workers through the platform launched in April was heralded as the first product in the Kelly Fusion suite of solutions that automate routine tasks. In partnership with robotic process automation specialist UiPath, the digital workers are powered by automation software and custom built for Kelly clients to complete repetitive tasks.
Kelly’s digital workers specialize in data entry tasks and new-hire processes such as background screening and onboarding, enabling employees to focus on motivating and value-added work.
“With this product launch, we have created a new labor channel for our customers,” says Kelly Vice President of Innovation and Product Development Ed Pederson, adding that the platform enables clients to innovate and grow while freeing up workers’ time for creativity and upskilling.
Kelly Fusion is the result of an initiative to harness automation internally at Kelly. The firm’s digital workers complete many tasks such as certifying candidate profiles, verifying background checks, submitting drug screening requests, sending onboarding emails, ordering new-hire kits and reporting results to their human colleagues.
The partnership with UiPath is particularly intriguing. RPA vendors such as UiPath, Automation Anywhere and SS&C Blue Prism deliver automation via software robots or artificial intelligence agents and are at the forefront of the workforce automation trend.
Kelly Fusion is one of a number of initiatives where digital and human workers are intersecting. IBM has positioned its AI engine, Watson, to provide digital labor, while new-wave digital vendors such as WorkFusion, Digital Workforce and SIXAI are widening the ways that organizations can choose to get work done.
The Buzz Emerging solutions that combine human labor with automation are beginning to call into question what a staffing firm is. The root definition of “staffing” is a third party that sources workers for a client. But we know that work can now be completed through digital means, not only through human workers.
Kelly Fusion’s innovative partnership with UiPath could be the thin end of the wedge, and we can expect to see further blurring of the definitional boundaries between staffing and RPA as more staffing firms begin to deliver automation solutions to their clients.
