The Contingent Workforce and Services (CW/S) Insiders’ Hot List: November 2020

Welcome to the November 2020 edition of Spend Matters Insiders’ Hot List, a monthly look at the contingent workforce and services (CW/S) space. For those new to the Hot List, each edition covers the prior month’s important or interesting technology and innovation developments in the CW/S space.

In the last Hot List, we covered key events and developments that took place in September 2020. These included MBO’s acquisition MindSumo, Fiverr’s new subscription-based solution, Fiverr Business, a range of indicators of very active online freelancer platforms in the midst of COVID-19 and more.

Turning to October, we observed a changing of seasons as COVID-19 has become — for the time being — something of a fixture in the economic landscape. It may be cold and gloomy in the northern hemisphere, but the CW/S space has been heating up.

The industry (or parts of it) seems to have climbed a substantial way out of its April 2020 crater. The core of the industry continues to evolve (perhaps with greater haste), and the flow of new developments in the industry seems as robust as ever. One stands out: the online freelancer platform segment continues to exhibit a rational exuberance (both in terms of the platforms and the developing ecosystem that support freelancers and other contract workers).