Crowdsourcing Vs. Crowdstaffing: What’s The Difference

Unlike crowdsourcing — which connects freelancers directly to employers and consumers, or solicits assistance from a large group of independent recruiters to aid in the hiring of permanent employees — Crowdstaffing focuses on rcruiting contingent workers as part of a Managed Service Provider (MSP) program. Crowdstaffing providers plug into MSP programs just as other staffing suppliers, however they utilize a large group of independent global recruiters to conduct searches for qualified candidates; traditional staffing suppliers use teams of internal recruiters to accomplish the same task, which is less efficient and more expensive. Crowdstaffing breaks with tradition, without breaking the bank or compromising quality.

Traditional staffing solutions

In a standard agency model, staffing firms hire recruiters who source from identified candidate pools. Because of the overhead associated with maintaining traditional operations, regional coverage and internal recruiting staff, numbers can be limited. Examples of standard staffing models include outsourcing, offshoring, MSP/VMS and Statement of Work (SOW) contracting.

• Outsourcing: An external organization is utilized to provide services as a way to augment or replace internal teams and processes. One example is the use of a Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) company to hire employees or contractors versus creating an internal recruiting team to do the same activity.


• Offshoring: Utilizing people resources in different countries to deliver a project, product, or service. Offshoring is often combined with outsourcing to take advantage of the lower rates of global resources.


• MSP/VMS: Managed Service Providers oversee the contingent workforce hiring process for organizations, which involves managing the staffing supplier population, facilitating payments, ensuring compliance and reducing costs.


• Statement of Work (SOW): Statement of Work hiring is commonly used to staff for the completion of a specific project. An external organization assumes the responsibility for the management of project resources, milestones and delivery. An SOW engagement is usually finite, lasting only until the project is complete, where other models, such as outsourcing, can be ongoing.

Finding new avenues to success in the crowd

As the nature of business and talent acquisition have evolved, we’re seeing new models emerge that leverage the strength of the crowd.

• Online Staffing (Open Marketplace): In an open marketplace, consumers and employers are decoupled. Freelance talent sell their services directly to buyers through online staffing platforms.


• Online Staffing (Closed Marketplace): In closed marketplace environments, resources are curated by the online staffing provider. This adds a layer of quality and compliance to the process, which is lacking in the open marketplace model.


• Crowdsourcing: An open marketplace, primarily used by recruiters and headhunters to hire permanent employees. The platforms are often designed to connect talent directly to recruiting professionals and employers.


• Crowdstaffing: A private marketplace for staffing curators that specialize in hiring contingent workers. The model accommodates scalability and niche positions, utilizing global recruiter entrepreneurs with the assurance of 100-percent compliance. A Crowdstaffing model strengthens staffing capabilities for MSP/VMS programs; and because staffing curators are the employers of record, complete compliance is assured. The profit-sharing compensation structure in place for recruiters drives intrinsic motivation, which results in higher quality talent and faster placements.
  
  
  
  • Crowdstaffing plugs directly into any existing MSP program.
  
  
  • Crowdstaffing suppliers have the same contract agreement terms as other suppliers.
  
  
  • Crowdstaffing suppliers work with a network of independent global recruiters.
  
  
  • Crowdstaffing software platforms provide recruiters access to receive requirements and make submissions.
  
  
  • Crowdstaffing suppliers ensure labor compliance and mitigate risks as employers of record.
  
  
  
  

Learn more about the exciting new trends created by Crowdstaffing

For today’s MSPs, this groundbreaking model can produce unrivaled results: delivering talented people with fast submission times and infinite scalability for high volume hiring needs. Download our latest eBook now to learn more about “The Evolution of Talent Fulfillment: Crowdstaffing.”

Crowdsourcing Vs. Crowdstaffing: What’s The Difference