event-staffing
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Employ Partners Built a Local Hiring Machine - Then Sold the Playbook
National staffing firms sell scale. Employ Partners sold something more stubbornly local: two Georgia offices, three specialist divisions and a habit of answering the phone - a model AnDek Holdings acquired in 2026 for an undisclosed sum.
The Empty Shift Is Qwick's Whole Business - and It Fills One in 30 Minutes
A Charleston startup called Gigpro merged with its better-funded Phoenix rival, took the rival's name, and built a marketplace where a short-staffed restaurant can post a shift and have a vetted bartender walking in before service.
Instawork
Instawork is an AI-powered on-demand staffing platform that connects businesses with vetted hourly workers across hospitality, warehousing, food service, retail, and light industrial sectors. Operating in 400+ cities across the U.S. and Canada, the company uses over 2 billion data signals to match businesses with pre-vetted workers, achieving a 98% worker show rate and filling 90% of jobs within 24 hours — metrics that traditional staffing agencies rarely approach. Founded in 2015 and backed by Y Combinator, Benchmark, Greylock, and TCV, Instawork has raised $171M and serves 15,000+ businesses, with a network of 10M+ workers. The platform handles everything from a single catering shift to large-scale distribution center operations.