“There is a talent shortage since the pandemic and the staffing industry is acutely aware of the need to attract and retain talent,” Ms. Rivel said.

Despite unique challenges caused by Covid-19, she said, most general IT strategies at staffing firms are similar to those at companies elsewhere in the economy. That includes continued efforts to digitize business process and shift more systems into the cloud, while developing data analytics, robotic process automation, machine learning and other advanced capabilities, she said.

“Essentially driving business value as cost effectively as possible,” she added.

Ms. Rivel previously held posts in IT operations and application development at consulting firm Deloitte and auto-parts supplier

Delphi Automotive

PLC.

Her goal at Kelly is to support ongoing efforts to create a “streamlined, transparent and easy way to search for new opportunities, go through the hiring and onboarding process,” she said.

Over her time at Kelly—which includes regional leadership posts in Asia Pacific as well as covering Europe, the Middle East and Africa—Ms. Rivel helped develop AI-enabled recruiting technologies, among other digital tools and services, the company said. Building on these and other advanced digital tools will be a priority in the year ahead, Ms. Rivel said.

The move comes as many employers struggle to refill jobs that were cut at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic last year, hoping to take advantage of renewed economic growth. More workers are leaving existing jobs than at any time in at least two decades, preferring instead the flexibility of remote work or wary of returning to offices with unvaccinated co-workers. Still others are holding out for higher pay or looking to change career paths.

Kelly last year sharpened its focus on staffing services in several key areas, including the science, engineering and technology sectors. In the U.S. alone, employers posted 295,034 IT job openings in September, including positions at professional, scientific and technical-services firms, banks and insurance firms, manufacturers, schools, and retailers, among other sectors, according to IT trade group CompTIA.

To support these and other specialty services, Ms. Rivel plans to boost the use of software bots, low-code applications and AI-enabled technologies to drive efficiency in both internal operations and customer-facing services.

“Kelly had a cloud-first strategy in place for years,” Ms. Rivel said. “We have moved our infrastructure into the cloud years ago, which set a foundation for the next phase of our evolution,” she said.

Write to Angus Loten at angus.loten@wsj.com