Roundup: Severance Benefits Build Culture? Startups Fund Like Rabbits

HR Technology News Screens

Our weekly roundup of deals, product announcements and other HR technology news.

More companies are expanding severance packages and offering job placement assistance to separated employees, according to RiseSmart’s 2019 Guide to Severance & Workforce Transition survey. The reason: They believe such benefits will give them an advantage in a tight labor market by showcasing their “employee-first” culture. RiseSmart said 44 percent of all companies surveyed now offer some form of severance benefits to all employees, not just senior managers, a 6 percent rise from 2017.

Namely announced a new integration with Hire by Google. The move will help joint customers connect their HR and ATS systems in order to minimize data entry and speed the onboarding of new hires.

.@HCMTech's roundup of deals, product announcements and #HRtech news. This week: Employers expand severance benefits; lots of funding for HR tech startups. #HR Click To Tweet

LinkedIn will upgrade its Android Job Alerts and Connections features to, respectively, notify recruiters and manage Microsoft Accounts connections, reports Social Samosa. Job Alerts will allow users to notify recruiters when they’ve applied for a position, while the Connections upgrade lets users control which Microsoft accounts have access to their LinkedIn data.

Pitchfest will return to October’s HR Technology Conference & Exposition in Las Vegas. Conference organizer LRP Media Group said 30 HR tech startups will present in three rounds at the conference, with two from each moving up to the finals. The overall winner will participate in the conference’s session on “Discovering the Next Great HR Technology Company,” receive a cash prize and exhibit space at the 2020 event.

Speaking of startups…

Sense, a contractor engagement platform, launched Messaging, a 1-to-1 SMS tool that allows recruiters to personalize interactions throughout the employment cycle. The company also reported raising $13.5 million in Series B funding, which brings its total funding to $23.5 million. The money is earmarked R&D and sales.

Spur, a new employment platform for hourly workers and their employers, raised $8 million in a Series A funding round led by Third Prime with participation from Mark Bezos and John Griffin. Spur also appointed Bezos to its Board of Directors. Bezos is brother of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

Vault Platform announced a seed funding round of $4.2 million led by UK-based Kindred Capital. Vault’s solution joins a growing list of products designed to aid employees in reporting workplace harassment or misconduct.

AI recruiting startup VCV raised $1.7 million from Japanese VC Will Group, Talent Equity Ventures, 500 Startups and several angel investors. The funding will help the company continue to develop its technology and strengthen its position within the global recruitment market. It will also open an office in Tokyo.

People analytics firm Visier is expanding its market beyond enterprise companies to include those in mid-market. Through a strategic partnership with Insperity, organizations in the 300-1,000 employee will now have access to Visier’s analytics tools.

HCM platform Hibob announced a full integration with Slack. The company said the integration will help companies bring more tasks together in one place in an effort to consumerize the work experience.

PrismHR, a software platform for Human Resource Outsourcing (HRO) organizations, said ThinkHR is now available to its customers. ThinkHR provides HR content and people risk management solutions. ThinkHR will also be available to PrismHR’s SNB customers.

The first version of noHold’s HR virtual assistant has gone live at a multinational manufacturing company. noHold said the manufacturer has over 75,000 employees at more than 200 locations world-wide, and that its virtual assistant is being implemented in “internal departments.” The company plans to integrate back office systems at some point in the future.

HealthTap has expanded its business development efforts to include employers that have significant part-time and contract work forces who aren’t covered by traditional employer-provided health insurance. HealthTap offers AI-powered virtual primary healthcare. The company said the move will make its virtual care to a broader base of flexible workers.

Ever notice how many companies are “reinventing” some HR process or another? This week it’s UK-based Nodal Labs, a new blockchain-powered freelance marketplace. Nodal provides employers with access to a pool of freelancers whose skills have been verified.

Inkling, a mobile learning platform for distributed workforces, launched Inkling Learning Pathways. The new product is designed to guide employees through their in a way that improves engagement, performance and information retention while enabling managers to easily track and verify the learner’s skills. Learning is a complementary addition to the company’s flagship Inkling Knowledge product.   

ADP said its mobile app now has 20 million registered users and that it’s adding an everage of 500,000 each month. 

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