Elance, the leading supplier of Services Supply Management (SSM) solutions, today offered a clear path to managing the risks of 'employee mis-classification' lawsuits, such as the recent Hewlett-Packard (HP) $300 Million lawsuit. The HP class-action lawsuit, filed on March 21, claims that over 3,000 contractors were mis-classified and joins a list of other well-known contingent labor (also called temporary labor) lawsuits, including those against Microsoft ($97 Million settlement) and Time Warner in the 90's. The lawsuits show a clear and present risk that should be taken as a serious wake up call for any business that utilizes a contingent workforce. Elance believes that implementing SSM applications to enforce compliance to contingent workforce policies can help reduce the risk of 'employee mis-classification' lawsuits.

Elance today announced results of a survey on external services and outsourcing trends at Fortune 1000 companies. A majority of respondents (77%) expected their use of outsourced services to increase over the next two years. More than half (55%) claimed only "low" to "average" visibility into services performance and spending by their organizations. Over two-thirds (68%) reported that buyers of these services were well distributed throughout their organizations, without centralized control. At the top of the list of most commonly outsourced service categories were Facilities, IT, Marketing and Print, Temporary Labor, Maintenance Services and Call Center Operations.

Elance gathered more than 25 customers and industry thought-leaders, at its semi-annual Customer Advisory Council, to discuss the latest developments in Services Supply Management. Elance customers representing industries such as financial services, energy, utility, manufacturing and technology participated in two days of experience sharing, benchmarking and planning sessions.

Elance today announced the results of a new study conducted by analyst firm Forrester Research (Omnibus Survey, April 2004, Forrester Research) which shows that improving the sourcing and procurement of services is a high priority for most companies.

Elance today announced that Giga Research, a wholly owned subsidiary of Forrester Research, has released a new report that names Elance as the largest player in the growing market for services procurement solutions.