Why Snagajob Could Be the Key to this Silicon Valley Tech Giant's Future

LinkedIn has partnered with Glen Allen, Va.-based Snagajob, an online marketplace for hourly jobs, to better understand, and perhaps one day cater to, individuals who are working hourly and/or temporary jobs and do not register the employment via the professional social network.

Snagajob CEO Peter Harrison told DC Inno, "we’re excited to partner with LinkedIn since our missions are so closely aligned, yet we both address distinct markets that currently have minimal crossover. Both parties have a tremendous amount to gain by working together."

A growth in the number of "temporary" or part-time jobs has been made popular by, among other things, a myriad of gig economy companies like Uber and Lyft that provide convenient options. Now, to be clear, Snagajob's focus is on hourly pay jobs and not gig economy employment. But the shared insight is that in both cases LinkedIn is missing out on potential users because it has largely ignored the market.

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Peter Harrison

"A growing amount of hourly job seekers are looking to work for multiple employers in an effort to maximize their income and meet their personal goals. For employers, it would be beneficial to quickly post a shift and fill last minute employment needs. However, it's unfortunate that in the age of on-demand everything, there are no greater efficiencies when looking for a job," explained Harrison, "as the gig economy grows, it should only take minutes to secure hourly work, not the days and weeks it takes today."

Because hourly pay workers, some of which are independent contractors—also known as 1099 employees—are operating in positions that tend to be temporary in nature, many do not input the employment period on LinkedIn (if they are users). As such, the professional social network is losing out on masses of valuable data that could provide a more comprehensive understanding of employment trends.

Importantly, if LinkedIn can harness more data related to hourly job demand and supply then it may be able to capitalize on another key demographic shift. This shift is, of course, related to an increase in the number of Americans relying upon additional income streams through freelancing, part-time hourly jobs and/or gig economy employment.

According to Intuit by 2020 there will be 7.6 million gig economy workers. Elsewhere, the Freelancers Union, with help from Elance, put together a 2014 study showing that one in three workers?—53 million Americans?—were “freelancing." A 2015 survey conducted by Requests for Startups polled roughly 1,000 on-demand workers about their work, earnings and lifestyle. 60 percent of those respondents said they received 25 percent or more of their income from hourly freelance work.

Context

LinkedIn HQ in Mountain View, Calif. // Credit: wikicommons

Founded in 2003, LinkedIn quickly raised more than $100M from investors and became the dominate social network for professional contacts; a resume database of sorts that works to connect the workforce with employers in a social manner.

Over the course of several years—and during a transformative era in the U.S.'s labor markets—LinkedIn orchestrated numerous acquisitions to build out a more comprehensive platform that underlined the then needs of employees, companies and recruiters in addition to advertisers. But the company has fallen on hard times in recent months, with their stock plummeting in value and lagging investor anxiety set squarely on the company's inability to make good on past revenue forecasts.

Fusion

The LinkedIn-Snagajob partnership comes on the heels of a massive venture capital round for the local tech company, as it attracted $100 million from Rho Acceleration, NewSpring Capital and the Invus Group earlier this month.

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In essence, 16-year-old Snagajob helps hourly job seekers get access to jobs by connecting them directly with employment "partners"—who in turn pay for access to the mobile-friendly platform.

These employment partners include, but are not limited to, hotels, retailers and restaurants that need to fill positions. The marketplace format helps organize new and old information as well as specific location, company, necessary skills and other requirements, to streamline the hiring process.

The partnership between LinkedIn and Snagajob is 3-part, said Harrison: "we will offer a special [unlimited] one-month trial to Lynda.com, LinkedIn’s online learning company, to all of our members,"; "later this year, the collaboration will also include unique product integrations and market development opportunities between the two companies that will support hourly job seekers at different points in their careers; and "we will work together [with LinkedIn] to analyze our respective data and provide the industry with valuable insight."

Harrison declined to elaborate further regarding how this joint research/data will used, sold or structured. Adding, "stay tuned for more specifics in the upcoming months."

"Given the incredible member base of both Snagajob and LinkedIn, each company sits on an amazing amount of data around job seekers, employment trends and the job market in general ... our shared goal is to use this insight to help people everywhere achieve their professional goals," he told DC Inno.