Consumer goods searches doubled. AI fell again.
It has never been easier yet harder to bring flexible talent in. Consumer goods and B2B doubled, AI fell 33%. What it means for how you position.
Matthew MottolaGet this in your inbox every week. Join 26,000+ subscribers.
Subscribe →Here's what Tony told buyers this morning:
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"It has never been easier yet harder to bring flexible talent into your organization. Easier, because the solutions are better than ever. Harder, because there are so many new solutions, and so many new risk areas."
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Our search data shows the other side of that. Consumer goods and B2B searches on Human Cloud doubled this month. Marketing and cybersecurity rose 50%. AI fell 33%, and finance fell 80%.
Pharmacy, HR, and law showed up as searches this month after none last month. Companies are not searching for a generic talent solution. A consumer brand, a pharmacy, and a law firm are each looking for the specialist that fits their business. Thirty-two distinct categories were searched in the last full week.
So the positioning move is to name who you serve. With so many new solutions on the market, the profile that names the industry, the compliance requirements, and the outcome it has already delivered is the one that gets shortlisted. A profile that says it serves everyone is competing with all of them.
Here's to a world that works,
- HC Research Team
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About the HC Research Team
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How this newsletter is made 91% AI generated. The AI sorts through our platform data, our channel partner data, and all available public data, then our human research team refines it and ensures the data is correct. |
What companies searched this month
Every 62 seconds, someone is looking at a solution profile on Human Cloud. Here is what they are searching to find them.
Distinct categories searched per week
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26
Week of Sep 21
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→ |
33
Week of Sep 28
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→ |
32
Week of Oct 5
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| Consumer Goods | +100% this month |
| B2B | +100% this month |
| Marketing | +50% this month |
| Cybersecurity | +50% this month |
| Data Labeling | +33% this month |
| Media and Entertainment | +33% this month |
| Healthcare | +25% this month |
| AI | -33% this month |
| Finance | -80% this month |
Percentages are this month vs last month.
New on the platform this month: pharmacy, HR, law, and childcare. None of them were searched last month. AI and finance fell for the second month in a row, so that one is a trend.
If one of these describes who you serve, put it on your profile. That is the language companies are searching this month.
The 2026 Market Map
The 2026 Market Map is live: the entire flexible workforce in one taxonomy, the top 5% of every segment on one page. Every category in the table above is one of its segments, and the percentages are how buyer attention moved across it this month. If you are on it, share it. If you are not yet, this is where you fit.
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Ways to get involved with Human Cloud
Upcoming events
Tuesday, October 20 · New York
Operating Partner Dinner at PEI New York
Twenty private equity operating partners and portfolio talent leaders at Del Frisco's Grille, hosted with Safeguard Global. If private equity portfolios are your buyers, this is the room.
Request an invite →Thursday, October 29 · 12:00 PM ET · Virtual
HC Community Call · October 2026
Where flexible talent fits amidst the broader talent ecosystem, why it has not crossed the chasm, and how solutions win in it without losing what makes you special. Featuring:
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Ian Davidson Founder, Signol Labs · Making Candidate Data A Competitive Advantage |
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Charlie McGinn President, Recruiting Business Divisions, Safeguard Global · How EORs and talent platforms partner to scale |
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