The past few years have been a roller coaster for the labour market. From massive workforce shifts driven by the pandemic, to The Great Resignation, to widespread furloughing, we’ve experienced much uncertainty. And we can expect that to continue in 2023. While this uncertainty has created challenges for employers and employees alike, it has also ushered in a new era of digital product growth in two key industries: HR technology and continued education. A recent report, exploring the usage of digital products, found that these two industries are seeing impressive year-over-year growth — despite the current macroeconomic environment — and show no signs of letting up. With businesses seeking consistent, long-term user growth, what does this mean for the HR tech and adult learning industries? And how can the companies responsible for these fast-growing products stay competitive? Here’s what we found. 

 Job market in flux fuels HR tech explosion
As companies across all industries navigate workforce reductions, employee turnover, and still, in some cases, labour shortages, it’s no surprise that HR product usage — including job search platforms, people management software, and payroll and benefits applications — skyrocketed over the past year. According to insights, usage of these digital products rose an impressive 118% year-over-year. As HR and recruiting leaders manage a quickly changing job market, they are turning to tools and software that help scale their efforts and provide clarity in the face of uncertainty. And we can expect they’ll have a lot of reasons to use HR and people management tools in the new year. Recent research from Gartner found that leader and manager effectiveness was the top priority for HR leaders next year, with other top priorities including change management, employee experience, and recruiting.  

 At the same time, job seekers continue leveraging job search platforms to find their next role. Whether they were a part of The Great Resignation or are one of the hundreds of thousands of workers who have been laid off this year, these digital products are helping them identify potential opportunities, make new connections, and network with current and future peers.  

 The self-development surge
Complimenting this surge in HR and staffing products is the significant growth of continued education and adult learning products. The report delving into digital products found that digital learning products like foreign language learning, skill-building and career coaching apps grew 48% globally year-over-year. For the same reasons employees are harnessing the power of job-searching tools, they are looking to digital learning products to help build their skills or become well-rounded applicants to rise above their competition.  

 Considering the instability workers have experienced from competitive candidate markets to hiring freezes and furloughing, this rise in product usage is not just understandable but is something to be celebrated. The power dynamic between the employer, current employee, and potential candidate has been a constant tug of war over the past few years. Candidates and employees alike want to make themselves as desirable as possible, upskilling across multiple areas to become more valuable in the eyes of their employers. In pursuit of career progression or confidence in job stability, we can expect employees and jobseekers alike to continue to drive the usage of digital learning products.  

Step up or step out
These twin peaks in digital product usage are proof that we are living in the golden age of HR and workplace technology. Demand is sky high, from organisations and individuals alike, and shows no sign of slowing down. This is a huge opportunity for these technology solution providers. From an organisation standpoint, HR teams are in dire need of solutions that will help them lower costs, increase productivity, and streamline decision-making. For current and prospective employees, they are looking for the tools that give them an edge, whether that is a way to increase networking opportunities or master a new skill set. With all of this activity, how can the organisations building these tools capitalise, and more importantly, maintain this growth? What these surges also tell us, however, is that the market is flooded with options. 

Consider Zoom who made a deft pivot during the pandemic to cater to the influx of new consumer users who were looking to keep in (remote) contact with friends and family. When companies go through periods of explosive growth, like we’re seeing now with HR and digital learning products, it’s important to continue to invest in your product experience in order to keep both new and existing customers coming back for more. And when it comes to gaining and retaining customers, organisations will have competition. The global HR technology market is projected to grow from just under $24 billion in 2022 to nearly $40 billion by 2029. With so many options available to them, users are able to be more fickle than ever. As such, product providers need to offer a service that hooks users straight away and continues to give them reasons to return. Achieving this requires a deep understanding of customer behaviour in order to deliver genuine value and consistent experiences to users. The companies who invest in their product now will not only improve the customer experience, but will also create better long-term differentiation in increasingly crowded markets.  

With economic instability likely to continue well into next year, we can expect to see the continued utilisation of HR tech and adult learning products. While this is good news for solution providers, it is also a challenge. To meet this demand and win their market, it is imperative these companies need to continue investing in their offerings. With this commitment, not only will they continue to grow themselves, but they will be helping organisations and individuals alike navigate the choppy waters ahead.