Gitnux/Report 2026

Employment Industry Statistics

In March 2024, US health care employment rose by 65,000 to 16.9 million—explore what that signals for industry trends.
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November 11, 2026Updated
Employment Industry Statistics
How this report is researched
01Editorial Scope

An editor sets the topic, the inclusion criteria, and the evaluation framework before research starts.

02Source Research

AI search agents locate sources and extract each figure together with the document it came from.

Read our full methodology →

Search agents attach provenance to every extracted figure.

Next review: within 31 days

01 Industry overview

The employment industry at a glance

The U.S. employment-services industry generated $109.0 billion in revenue in the second quarter of 2026 and employed 3.23 million people in September 2026, while global agencies placed 61 million people in jobs in 2024.

$109.0B[72]
U.S. revenue, Q2 2026
3.23M[28]
U.S. industry jobs, Sep. 2026
61M[17]
People placed globally, 2024
56,173[73]
U.S. employer establishments, latest
Market size
U.S. employment-services revenue was $108.99 billion in the second quarter of 2026, seasonally adjusted. The sector includes employment placement, executive search, temporary help and professional employer organizations.[72]
Market share & regions
The global private employment-services industry operates across more than 40 countries. In career-management services, the United States accounted for 57% of the people supported by the three largest market leaders in 2024, indicating a strong U.S. position in that segment.[17]
Segmentation
U.S. employment services comprised about 2.51 million temporary-help jobs, 418,700 professional-employer-organization jobs and 297,300 placement and executive-search jobs in July 2025. The Census classification also identifies these as the main service groups within NAICS 5613.[28][72]
Key players & concentration
The U.S. market is structurally fragmented: the Census Bureau reports 56,173 employer establishments in NAICS 5613, while the available industry sources do not provide a current national four-firm concentration ratio. Major global operators include large staffing and recruitment groups, but a defensible aggregate market-share figure was not identified.[73][10]
Trends, drivers & challenges
Demand is being shaped by flexible-workforce needs, skills shortages and technology-enabled recruiting. At the same time, global industry revenue fell 4.2% in 2024 even as placements rose by nearly one million year over year to 61 million, showing pressure on pricing and margins.[17]
Consumer behavior & competition
Employers increasingly use employment firms for temporary labor, recruitment process outsourcing, executive search and outsourced HR, while staffing companies supplied opportunities to about 9.5 million U.S. employees in 2025. Competition spans traditional agencies, online job platforms and technology-enabled talent marketplaces.[10][72]
M&A
M&A remains active across staffing and talent solutions. On November 2, 2026, Hudson Talent Solutions acquired Cornerstone RPO, which had more than 30 active clients and had worked with over 200 organizations; the transaction expanded recruitment-process-outsourcing and broader workforce-solutions capabilities.[47]
Regulation
A U.S. Department of Labor final rule published August 20, 2026, and effective October 19, 2026, removed the requirement that states use state merit staff to provide Wagner-Peyser Employment Service services. The change affects the public employment-service delivery model rather than private staffing companies directly.[74][30]
Latest news
The latest reported U.S. employment-services revenue was $108.99 billion in the second quarter of 2026, up 0.4% from the first quarter but down 0.7% from the second quarter of 2025. Employment-services payroll employment stood at 3.23 million in September 2026.[72][28]

02 Ranking

Top 10 Companies in the Employment Industry

The leading companies in the employment industry, ranked on market impact, performance, momentum, innovation and brand popularity.

Updated November 11, 2026 · Next review December 11, 2026

Verdict

Thanks to Express Employment Professionals’ 406,000 people connected with work through more than 850 locations in 2025, it stands out for franchised placement at large footprint. PERSOL HOLDINGS stands out for workforce-management delivery across 672 group bases in Japan and overseas, whereas Randstad and others emphasize measured placement volumes or different operating models.

Ranked by Overall score · How we score ↓

Editor's top 3 picks

Where to start, by need.

  1. #1 Overall · Leader in temporary staffing

    Express Employment Professionals

    US

    Ranked #1 · 9.3 · Temporary staffing

    Why we picked it: It runs franchised staffing across 850+ locations, backed by 406,000 job connections in 2025.

  2. Leader in workforce management

    PERSOL HOLDINGS

    JP

    Ranked #2 · 9.1 · Workforce management

    Why we picked it: Its staffing and workforce management footprint spans 672 group bases across Japan and overseas.

  3. #3 overall

    Randstad

    NL

    Ranked #3 · 8.9 · Temporary staffing

    Why we picked it: It reflects high-volume temporary placements, with 560,900 average placements in 2025.

Pick 1 is the #1 company overall. Pick 2 is the highest-ranked company in the top 5 that adds a new segment; no further segment places in the top 5, so pick 3 follows rank.

Full ranking

Sort by
Top 10 companies in the employment industry, 2026 – Gitnux ranking
#CompanyOverall ↓Company snapshot
1

Express Employment Professionals

Temporary staffing · US

9.3
2

PERSOL HOLDINGS

Workforce management · JP

9.1
3

Randstad

Temporary staffing · NL

8.9
4

Adecco Group

Temporary staffing · CH

8.7
5

Synergie

Temporary staffing · FR

8.4
6

ManpowerGroup

Global recruitment, staffing and workforce services · US

8.3
7

Robert Half

Professional staffing and permanent recruitment · US

8.3
8

Kelly

Temporary staffing and talent solutions · US

8.3
9

Gi Group Holding

Global staffing, recruitment and workforce services · IT

8.2
10

Groupe CRIT

Temporary employment and HR solutions in Europe · FR

8.2

How we score

  • Impact (30%): scale and weight in the market (revenue, market share, employees, market position).
  • Performance (20%): recent revenue growth and operating margin; an analyst assessment where a company does not publish them.
  • Momentum (20%): growth trajectory and future potential.
  • Innovation (15%): R&D intensity and how technologically advanced the company is.

Popularity (brand search demand, 15%) counts toward Overall but is not published as a column. Overall leaves out what is not known.

Scale Scores are shown on a 7–10 scale with one decimal; bars start at 7.0.

Cadence Recalculated when new figures are published; next review December 11, 2026.

Independence. Rankings are editorially independent. Scores, ranks, picks and the verdict follow the method above; no company can pay to change them.

Cite this ranking

APA

Kevin O'Brien. (2026, February 13). Top 10 companies in the employment industry. In Employment Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/employment-industry-statistics/#top-companies

report visual · Comparison

Employed people by industry (United States)

Education and health services leads with 37,955 thousands of people.

Education and health services37,955 thousands of people
Professional and business services22,075 thousands of people
Wholesale and retail trade19,616 thousands of people
Manufacturing15,134 thousands of people
Leisure and hospitality13,950 thousands of people
Construction12,121 thousands of people
source-verifiedbls.gov

04 Statistics

Technology & Innovation

AI uptake is now mainstream in recruitment: 24.2% of surveyed U.S. employers used AI in 2026, and 61% of staffing agencies used AI in 2025.

AI in the employment industry

  • 24.2% of surveyed U.S. employers used AI in their recruitment efforts in 2026.[1]
  • 45% of staffing agencies using AI applied it to resume parsing or database cleanup in 2025.[2]
  • 55% of staffing agencies using AI applied it to conversational AI in 2025.[2]
  • 46% of staffing firms said AI reduced screening time by at least half in 2025.[3]
  • 10% of staffing firms had implemented agentic AI across their full workflow in 2025.[3]
  • 61% of staffing agencies used AI in 2025, up from 48% in 2024.[2]

Automation in the employment industry

  • 14.6 hours per week was the average time recruiters spent searching for candidates in 2025.[3]
  • 18% of staffing-firm respondents automated interview scheduling in 2025.[4]
  • Fewer than 50% of recruitment firms automated many stages of the recruitment cycle in 2025.[3]
  • 20% of staffing-firm respondents used automation for candidate screening in 2025.[4]
  • 20% of staffing-firm respondents used automation to collect application information in 2025.[4]
  • 38% of staffing-firm respondents automated candidate communications in 2025.[4]

Digital Transformation in the professional and business services sector (sector benchmark)

  • 35.51% of EU professional, scientific and technical enterprises using AI applied it to business-administration or management processes in 2025.[5]
  • 51% of U.S. technology executives reported no increase in performance or profitability from digital-transformation investments during the previous two years.[6]
  • 55% of business-services CEOs identified keeping pace with technology and AI transformation as their greatest concern in PwC’s 2025 global CEO survey.[7]
  • 40.4% of EU enterprises in professional, scientific and technical activities used at least one AI technology in 2025.[5]

Technology Adoption in the professional and business services sector (sector benchmark)

  • 22.32% of EU professional, scientific and technical enterprises using AI applied it to research and development or innovation activities in 2025.[5]
  • 27.33% of EU professional, scientific and technical enterprises using AI applied it to production processes in 2025.[5]
  • 30.87% of EU professional, scientific and technical enterprises using AI applied it to accounting, controlling or finance management in 2025.[5]
  • 18.55% of EU professional, scientific and technical enterprises using AI applied it to ICT security in 2025.[5]

Cloud Computing in the professional and business services sector (sector benchmark)

  • 90.7% of Australian professional, scientific and technical enterprises used cloud computing services in 2022.[8]
  • 91.2% of Finnish professional, scientific and technical enterprises used cloud computing services in 2023.[8]
  • 80.4% of Danish professional, scientific and technical enterprises used cloud computing services in 2023.[8]
  • 77.7% of Dutch professional, scientific and technical enterprises used cloud computing services in 2023.[8]

Big Data in the professional and business services sector (sector benchmark)

  • 57.5% of Dutch professional, scientific and technical enterprises conducted big-data analysis in 2023.[8]
  • 45.4% of Finnish professional, scientific and technical enterprises conducted big-data analysis in 2023.[8]
  • 47.5% of German professional, scientific and technical enterprises conducted big-data analysis in 2023.[8]
  • 46.8% of Swedish professional, scientific and technical enterprises conducted big-data analysis in 2023.[8]

IoT in the professional and business services sector (sector benchmark)

  • 36.3% of Irish professional, scientific and technical enterprises used Internet-of-Things technologies in 2021.[8]
  • 35.6% of Swedish professional, scientific and technical enterprises used Internet-of-Things technologies in 2021.[8]

05 Statistics

Data & Analytics

AI is getting applied across hiring analytics, including job-matching AI (43% of agencies using AI in 2025) and operational AI (25%). Data governance gaps remain visible, with 68% of organizations having none in 2024.

Business intelligence in the employment industry

  • 23% of staffing agencies that had adopted AI were using sales or recruiting intelligence AI in 2025.[2]
  • 25% of staffing agencies that had adopted AI were using operational AI in 2025.[2]
  • 43% of staffing agencies that had adopted AI were using job-matching AI in 2025.[2]
  • 85% of organizations used performance-management applications in 2024 in Sapient Insights’ HR systems survey.[9]
  • 89% of organizations used onboarding and mobility applications in 2024 in Sapient Insights’ HR systems survey.[9]
  • 45% of staffing agencies that had adopted AI were using resume-parsing or database-cleanup AI in 2025.[2]

Data analytics in the employment industry

  • 57% of staffing agencies using AI applied it to recruiting-content generation in 2025.[4]
  • 28% of staffing agencies using AI applied it to matching candidates with relevant roles in 2025.[4]
  • 1.36 AI tools per recruiter was the average usage in the United States in the first quarter of 2026, compared with one tool in the first quarter of 2024.[10]
  • 286 minutes per week was the average recruiter call time in the United States in the first quarter of 2026, the highest recorded level.[10]
  • Recruiter call time doubled between the first quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2026 in the United States.[10]
  • 42.3% of employers hired from within or promoted a current employee in iHire’s 2025 survey.[11]

Data Quality in the professional and business services sector (sector benchmark)

  • 49% of supply management organizations reported that their data quality was good or excellent in 2024, based on a survey of more than 121 respondents.[12]
  • 23% of supply management firms spent at least 21% of their time cleaning data in 2024.[12]
  • 50% of organizations identified data-quality issues as the biggest challenge affecting their data-integration projects in 2024.[13]
  • 87% of enterprise data leaders said traditional rules-based approaches to data quality did not scale to current needs in 2024.[14]
  • 67% of supply management organizations said their data quality was better or significantly better than two years earlier in 2024.[12]
  • 95% of enterprise companies with at least $1 billion in revenue had experienced a data-quality issue directly affecting business outcomes in 2024.[14]

Data Governance in the professional and business services sector (sector benchmark)

  • 32% of organizations in the 2024 governance study had a formal governance organization in place, while 68% had none.[15]
  • 61% of organizations had a dedicated data-governance function in 2024, according to a survey of more than 121 supply management professionals.[12]
  • 33% of North American organizations had a formal data-governance organization in place in 2024.[15]
  • 18.3% of organizations used a data-governance or catalog solution as part of their governance program in 2024.[15]
  • 71% of global organizations reported having a data-governance program in 2024, up from 60% in 2023.[13]
  • 81% of supply management organizations found their data-governance program useful in 2024.[12]

KPIs in the employment industry

  • 56% of recruitment firms reported revenue growth in 2025, compared with 40% in 2024.[3]
  • 57% of staffing clients said firms always delivered high-quality, error-free work in 2024.[16]
  • 50% was the 2025 staffing-client Net Promoter Score benchmark published by ClearlyRated.[16]
  • 30% was the 2024 staffing-talent Net Promoter Score benchmark published by ClearlyRated.[16]
  • 95% of staffing clients said firms submitted multiple qualified candidates matching their requirements in 2024.[16]
  • 55% of staffing firms reported that AI screening increased KPIs by more than 25% in 2025.[3]

06 Statistics

Strategy & Growth

Demand persists through placements even as revenue growth stays subdued, with 61 million people placed worldwide in 2024 and global agency revenue falling 4.2% in 2024.

Growth in the employment industry

  • 57% of staffing firms with an AI strategy reported revenue growth in 2023.[3]
  • Nearly 70% of recruitment agencies predicted revenue increases for 2025.[3]
  • Nearly 25% of recruitment agencies reported revenue growth of at least 10% in 2024.[3]
  • 61 million people were placed in jobs by private employment agencies worldwide in 2024, nearly one million more than in 2023.[17]
  • 40% of recruitment agencies reported revenue growth in 2024.[3]
  • 96% of staffing agencies forecast some revenue growth for 2025, while 27% reported revenue contraction in 2024.[2]

Differentiation in the employment industry

  • 59% of Fortune 100 employers cited increased work diversity as a benefit of hiring international candidates in 2024.[18]
  • 34.72% of agency-recruitment respondents reported well-defined and consistently followed recruitment processes in 2026.[19]
  • 86% of global agency assignments were full-time roles in 2024, a service characteristic agencies can use to distinguish workforce offerings.[17]
  • 62% of new MSP contracts in 2024 came from first-time MSP adopters, highlighting differentiation opportunities in the small and mid-sized market.[20]
  • 20.55% of agency-recruitment respondents operated with specialized sourcing, delivery and account-management roles in 2026.[19]
  • 44% of Fortune 100 employers cited increased costs as a concern when hiring international candidates in 2024.[18]

Mergers and acquisitions in the employment industry

  • The 2018–2024 annual staffing-M&A average was approximately 50% higher than the 2008–2017 average.[21]
  • Aya Healthcare announced a $615 million acquisition of Cross Country Healthcare in 2024.[22]
  • Staffing M&A averaged more than 105 announced deals annually from 2018 through 2024.[21]
  • 26% of UK recruitment-sector deals in 2024 were acquisitions by overseas bidders, representing 16 deals.[23]
  • UK recruitment firms completed 11 overseas acquisitions in 2025.[23]
  • Staffing M&A averaged approximately 70 announced deals annually from 2008 through 2017.[21]

Strategic partnerships in the employment industry

  • 27% of organizations reported a moderate increase in priorities for greater contingent-workforce flexibility in an Allegis Global Solutions survey.[24]
  • 45% of surveyed workforce and procurement leaders procured recruitment process outsourcing solutions in 2025.[25]
  • 50% of surveyed workforce and procurement leaders procured statement-of-work management solutions in 2025.[25]
  • 17% of organizations managed more than 10 external contingent-workforce providers in 2025.[26]
  • 46% of organizations managed six or more external vendors supporting their contingent workforce in 2025.[26]
  • 55% of surveyed workforce and procurement leaders procured managed service provider solutions in 2025, the most widely procured workforce solution.[25]

07 Statistics

People & Workforce

Assignments skew full-time globally, with 86% of staffing assignments full-time in 2024, while retention and conversion show up as 72% remaining employed 12 months after initial assignment on average.

Hiring in the employment industry

  • 86% of staffing assignments were full-time roles globally in 2024.[17]
  • 40% of temporary workers were under age 29 in the 2025 i360-ASA survey.[10]
  • 64% of staffing employees said they worked in staffing to bridge jobs or help land a job in 2025.[10]
  • 73% of staffing employees worked full time in 2025.[10]
  • 76% of temporary workers were under age 44 in the 2025 i360-ASA survey.[10]

Employee retention in the employment industry

  • 72% of agency workers remained employed 12 months after their initial assignment, on average.[17]
  • More than 20% of agency workers were converted to direct staff, on average.[17]
  • 58% of contingent workers intended to leave the contingent workforce for full-time employment within the following year in 2024.[3]

Remote Work in the professional and business services sector (sector benchmark)

  • 54% of U.S. professional-services firms reported having at least one paid work-from-home employee in November 2024–January 2025.[27]
  • 62.8% of U.S. professional and business-services employees who could work at home did so during 2024–2025, while 66.0% could work at home.[28]
  • 37.21% was the average share of paid workdays performed from home by U.S. professional and business-services employees in January 2025.[29]
  • About 45% of U.S. professional and business-services workers worked remotely during October 2023–September 2024, including hybrid and fully remote work.[30]

Hybrid Work in the professional and business services sector (sector benchmark)

  • 27% of U.S. full-time employees worked in a hybrid arrangement in 2025, compared with 12% fully remote and 61% fully on-site.[31]
  • 54% of U.S. employees with remote-capable jobs worked in a hybrid arrangement in November 2025.[32]
  • Across U.S. professional and business services, 38% of full-time employees worked hybrid schedules during January–April 2025.[33]
  • Across U.S. professional and business services, 22% of full-time employees worked fully from home during January–April 2025.[33]
  • Across U.S. professional and business services, 39% of full-time employees worked fully onsite during January–April 2025.[33]

Upskilling in the employment industry

  • 21% of U.S. employers cited technology advancements requiring more expertise as a reason for staffing increases in the second quarter of 2025.[34]
  • About half of candidates had participated in reskilling or upskilling programs offered by recruitment firms in 2025.[3]
  • 25% of U.S. employers cited the need for new skills to remain competitive as a reason for staffing increases in the second quarter of 2025.[34]
  • 91% of candidates who participated in recruitment-firm upskilling programs would continue working with their recruiter.[3]
  • 63% of candidates who did not participate in recruitment-firm upskilling programs would continue working with their recruiter.[3]

Employee Engagement in the professional and business services sector (sector benchmark)

  • 33% of U.S. employees were engaged at work in 2023, while 16% were actively disengaged.[32]
  • 34% of U.S. employees were engaged at work in 2022, while 16% were actively disengaged.[32]
  • 32% of U.S. employees were engaged at work in 2024, while 17% were actively disengaged.[32]
  • 32% of U.S. employees were engaged at work in 2025, while 17% were actively disengaged.[32]

Change Management in the professional and business services sector (sector benchmark)

  • 16% of global business-services organizations managed change systemically across their initiatives in 2022.[35]
  • Approximately one-third of global business-services organizations had no change-management capability in 2022.[35]
  • 75% of global business-services organizations considered change management critical in 2022.[35]
  • 21% of transformation teams identified stakeholder-engagement strategies as their primary change-management approach in 2024.[36]

08 Statistics

Customer & Sales

Candidate experience is a measurable constraint: 46% of U.S. job seekers surveyed in March 2026 said they had been ghosted by a staffing firm.

Customer experience in the employment industry

  • 66% of U.S. job seekers surveyed in March 2026 wished a human recruiter reviewed their application.[37]
  • 81% of global contingent workers surveyed in 2024 were comfortable with AI in recruiting when it sped up the process.[3]
  • 36% of U.S. job seekers surveyed in March 2026 said undisclosed AI screening would reduce their trust in a staffing firm.[37]
  • 27% of surveyed workers identified slow responses as their top hiring-process frustration in the U.S. staffing industry in 2024.[38]
  • 46% of U.S. job seekers surveyed in March 2026 said they had been ghosted by a staffing firm.[37]

Customer retention in the employment industry

  • 58% of global contingent workers surveyed in 2024 intended to leave contingent work for full-time employment within the following year.[3]
  • 23% of U.S. job seekers surveyed in 2026 said they stay with a staffing firm because of a positive experience.[3]
  • 78% of U.S. job seekers surveyed in March 2026 said one ghosting incident would make them hesitate to use that staffing firm again.[37]
  • 68% of global contingent workers surveyed in 2023 said they would work with their staffing firm again.[3]
  • 57% of candidates surveyed by Bullhorn in 2024 were considering leaving contingent work for permanent employment.[3]

Customer acquisition in the employment industry

  • 38% of healthcare candidates surveyed globally in 2024 used staffing firms as their go-to resource.[3]
  • 40% of surveyed workers found their most recent job through a job board in the staffing market in 2024.[38]
  • 54% of recruitment-agency marketers and 54% of their leadership teams named client acquisition a top priority in 2026.[39]
  • Nearly half of the 92% of U.S. job seekers open to the right opportunity were expected not to arrive inbound in the staffing industry in 2026.[37]
  • 49% of commercial and professional candidates surveyed globally in 2024 used staffing firms as their go-to resource.[3]

Customer loyalty in the employment industry

  • 76% of surveyed workers were more likely to refer someone when they had a unique referral link in 2024.[38]
  • 40 was ClearlyRated’s published 2026 staffing-industry Net Promoter Score among placed talent.[37]
  • 53% of global candidates surveyed in 2024 chose their current staffing firm because of a positive personal or review-based experience.[3]
  • 78% of U.S. job seekers surveyed in March 2026 said one ghosting incident would make them hesitate to use the staffing firm again.[37]
  • 78% of surveyed workers were more likely to refer someone when referrals could be made online or through a mobile app in 2024.[38]

Lead generation in the employment industry

  • 31% of recruitment-agency marketers included answer-engine optimization among their top three priorities in 2026.[39]
  • 46% of recruitment-agency marketers said leadership alignment was their biggest challenge in 2026.[39]
  • 25% of recruitment-agency marketers felt confident delivering answer-engine optimization in 2026.[39]
  • 38% of recruitment-agency marketers identified capacity as a major challenge in 2026.[39]
  • 50% of recruitment-agency marketers rated their confidence in email and CRM at 4 or 5 out of 5 in 2026.[39]

09 Statistics

Marketing & Brand

Digital recruitment targeting shows concrete engagement metrics, including Appcast’s 6.1% apply rate in 2024 and an 851 U.S. cost per hire in recruitment advertising in 2024.

Marketing in the employment industry

  • 38% of recruitment-agency marketers identified marketing automation and CRM as a skills gap in 2026.[39]
  • 62% of recruitment-agency marketers rated their personal AI confidence at 4 or 5 out of 5 in 2026.[39]
  • 77% of recruitment-agency marketers used AI for content generation in 2026.[39]
  • 23% of recruitment-agency marketers expected their marketing budget to be cut over the following 12 months in 2026.[39]
  • 46% of recruitment-agency marketers were the only marketer in their business in 2026.[39]

Digital marketing in the employment industry

  • 70% of recruitment agencies planned to use social sourcing for candidate attraction in 2024.[40]
  • 35% was the increase in Appcast’s U.S. recruitment-ad apply rate from January to December 2024.[41]
  • 39% of recruitment agencies planned to increase content generation for candidate attraction in 2024.[40]
  • $851 was Appcast’s year-end U.S. cost per hire in recruitment advertising in 2024.[41]
  • 6.1% was Appcast’s overall U.S. recruitment-ad apply rate in 2024.[41]

Branding in the employment industry

  • 45 was ClearlyRated’s 2024 staffing-client Net Promoter Score, up from 36 in 2023.[37]
  • 36% of U.S. job seekers surveyed in 2026 would reconsider working with a staffing firm after discovering undisclosed AI screening.[37]
  • 31% of recruitment-agency leadership teams wanted marketing to lead AI adoption across the business in 2026.[39]
  • 48% of recruitment, talent-acquisition and employer-branding specialists relied partly on their marketing team for content creation in 2023.[42]
  • 58% of recruitment-agency marketers rated their confidence in consultant personal profiles at 4 or 5 out of 5 in 2026.[39]

Social media in the employment industry

  • 1.7 billion impressions were analyzed across U.S. search, display and social recruitment advertisements in Appcast’s 2024 dataset.[41]
  • 6.41% was the 2024 apply rate for technology recruitment advertising in Appcast’s U.S. dataset.[41]
  • 52% of recruitment agencies used or planned to use social sourcing for candidate attraction in 2022.[40]
  • 79% of recruitment agencies used or planned to use social sourcing for candidate attraction in 2023.[40]
  • 6.31% was the 2024 apply rate for marketing and advertising recruitment advertising in Appcast’s U.S. dataset.[41]

Influencer Marketing in the professional and business services sector (sector benchmark)

  • 78% of B2B influencer-marketing practitioners identify brand awareness and lead generation as their joint top challenges, based on Q1 2026 research.[43]
  • 86% of B2B influencer-marketing practitioners and creators prefer co-creating content with brands rather than amplifying finished brand content, based on Q1 2026 research.[43]
  • 74% of B2B influencers use artificial-intelligence tools to enhance content creation, based on Q1 2026 research.[43]
  • 44% of B2B influencer-marketing practitioners say finding the right talent is their single biggest collaboration obstacle, based on Q1 2026 research.[43]

10 Statistics

Operations & Execution

Operational time savings are a core adoption driver: average recruiter search time was 14.6 hours per week in 2025, and AI-supported screening is associated with a 3.6 hours per recruiter per week saving.

Process optimization in the employment industry

  • 4.5 hours per recruiter per week is the time firms expect AI-supported search and matching to save, according to the 2025 global survey.[3]
  • 27% of recruitment professionals identified search-and-match agents as the future recruitment tool likely to have the greatest productivity impact.[3]
  • 14.6 hours per week is the weighted-average time recruiters spend searching for suitable candidates, according to the 2025 global recruitment-industry survey.[3]
  • 45% of recruitment firms were experimenting with AI to sort resumes and submissions for screening in the 2025 global survey.[3]
  • 3.6 hours per recruiter per week is the expected saving from AI-supported screening, according to recruitment firms surveyed globally in 2025.[3]

Operational efficiency in the employment industry

  • 22% of recruitment firms said increased recruiter productivity was their desired AI outcome in the 2025 global survey.[3]
  • 5.5 separate software platforms were used per staffing agency on average in Staffing Hub’s 2026 back-office report.[2]
  • 30% of recruitment firms identified recruiter productivity as their biggest obstacle to reducing expenses in the 2025 global survey.[3]
  • 42% of staffing agencies lost revenue in 2025, according to Staffing Hub’s 2026 benchmarking report of 231 operators.[2]
  • 31% of staffing agencies reported contraction or no growth in 2024, while 14% expected contraction or no growth in 2025.[2]

Quality management in the employment industry

  • 43% was the 2024 fill rate for healthcare staffing orders in the Staffing Hub survey.[38]
  • 61% was the 2024 fill rate for office, clerical and administrative staffing orders in the Staffing Hub survey.[38]
  • 19% more job orders were filled by fast-growth staffing agencies than by agencies whose revenue contracted in the 2024 report.[38]
  • 43% was the 2024 fill rate for IT staffing orders in the Staffing Hub survey.[38]
  • 63% was the fill rate for fast-growth staffing agencies in the 2024 Staffing Hub benchmarking report.[38]

Supply chain in the employment industry

  • 11.9 million people were placed in jobs by private employment agencies in North America in 2024.[17]
  • 86% of assignments arranged by private employment agencies globally were full-time roles in 2024.[17]
  • 3.8 million people were placed in jobs by private employment agencies in South America in 2024.[17]
  • 58.4 million people were placed through temporary agency work globally in 2024.[17]
  • 11.7 million people were placed in jobs by private employment agencies in Europe in 2024.[17]

Outsourcing / Offshoring in the professional and business services sector (sector benchmark)

  • 28.8% of EU enterprises sourcing abroad sourced information and communication technology services internationally during 2021–2023.[5]
  • 60% of EU business-services enterprises sourcing abroad were in the business-services sector, compared with 40% in industry and construction, during 2021–2023.[5]
  • 47.5% of EU enterprises sourcing abroad sourced administrative and management functions internationally during 2021–2023.[5]
  • 29% of U.S. CPA firms responding to the 2025 National MAP Survey utilized offshoring, rising to 74% among firms with at least $10 million in net client fees.[44]
  • 65% of U.S. CPA firms participating in the 2025 National MAP Survey that offshored used India, followed by 33% using the Philippines.[44]

11 Statistics

Finance & Pricing

Margins and cost structure vary by service line; staffing firms cited net-margin ranges of 3% to 8% in a 2026 U.S. staffing-cost analysis, while typical temporary-staffing markup cited was 65%.

Pricing strategy in the employment industry

  • 39.0% was the highest gross-margin share among listed staffing firms cited in the 2026 staffing-fee analysis for 2025.[45]
  • 16.7% was ManpowerGroup’s gross margin on contract revenue in 2025, based on the company’s reported results.[45]
  • 65% was the typical temporary-staffing markup on worker pay for administrative placements cited in a 2026 staffing-fee analysis.[45]
  • 21% to 39% was the gross-margin range cited for staffing agencies by vertical in a 2026 KPI benchmark summary.[46]
  • 3% to 8% was the net-margin range cited for staffing firms in a 2026 U.S. staffing-cost analysis.[46]

Cost reduction in the employment industry

  • 54.9% of BBSI’s 2024 revenue represented payroll taxes and benefits.[47]
  • 17.6% of BBSI’s 2024 revenue represented workers’ compensation costs.[47]
  • 5.5 software platforms per agency was the average technology footprint cited in Staffing Hub’s 2026 back-office report.[2]
  • 1 in 3 staffing agencies operated below a 20% gross margin in Staffing Hub’s 2026 back-office analysis.[2]
  • 36% of recruitment firms identified siloed systems or poor data hygiene as the main barrier to AI benefits in 2025.[3]

Profitability in the employment industry

  • 11.8% was the 2025 gross margin for the employer-of-record component reported in the same annual filing.[47]
  • 4.7% was BBSI’s net-income margin in 2024.[47]
  • 23.0% was the 2025 gross margin for the Staffing Solutions segment reported in a staffing-services company’s annual filing.[47]
  • 28.5% was Kforce’s total gross-profit margin in the second quarter of 2026, according to an industry KPI analysis.[48]
  • 5.3% was BBSI’s operating-income margin in 2024.[47]

Financial planning in the employment industry

  • 23.6% was the 2024 year-over-year increase in South American private-employment-agency sales revenue.[17]
  • €197.7 billion was private-employment-agency sales revenue in Europe in 2024.[17]
  • 3.9% was the 2024 year-over-year decline in European private-employment-agency sales revenue.[17]
  • €528.0 billion was the combined 2024 sales revenue of private employment agencies across North America, South America, Europe and Asia-Pacific in the WEC regional table.[17]
  • €166.0 billion was private-employment-agency sales revenue in Asia-Pacific in 2024.[17]

12 Statistics

Product & Service

Recruiting platforms and embedded AI affect hiring throughput: Indeed reported 31 hires per minute worldwide in 2025, up from 27 previously.

Product development in the employment industry

  • 3.3 million employers used Indeed annually to hire in FY2024, while more than 610 million verified job-seeker profiles had been created.[49]
  • Over 350 million sourceable profiles were searched by Indeed’s AI-powered sourcing tools in 2024.[50]
  • 31 hires per minute occurred through Indeed worldwide in 2025, up from 27 hires per minute previously, according to Indeed.[50]
  • 78% of staffing firms that grew revenue by more than 25% in 2025 had AI embedded in their applicant-tracking systems.[3]
  • 55% of staffing firms reported that AI screening improved key performance indicators by more than 25% in 2025.[3]

Product lifecycle in the employment industry

  • 22% of staffing survey respondents were not yet using AI in their business or recruiting operations in 2025.[4]
  • 54% of staffing firms had automation in place for candidate search in 2025.[3]
  • 43% of recruitment firms expected only modest economic improvement in 2026, shaping technology investment decisions.[3]
  • 46% of staffing firms said AI reduced candidate-screening time by half or more in 2025.[3]
  • 56% of the highest-growth staffing firms reported average placement times below 10 days in 2025.[3]

After-sales in the employment industry

  • 74% of placed staffing candidates said someone contacted them before their assignment ended about the upcoming transition in 2024.[16]
  • 61% of placed staffing candidates said they received feedback and coaching throughout their assignment in 2024.[16]
  • 80% of placed staffing candidates said issues were resolved in a timely manner in 2024.[16]
  • 78% of placed staffing candidates said their calls and emails received a response within 24 hours in 2024.[16]
  • 69% of staffing clients said firm contacts returned calls and emails within 24 hours in 2024.[16]

Value proposition in the employment industry

  • 76% of U.S. temporary workers were under age 44 in a 2025 i360-ASA survey.[10]
  • 58% of candidates surveyed used staffing firms most frequently to look for work in 2026, up from 35% in 2025.[3]
  • 40% of U.S. staffing employees worked in higher-skilled occupations in 2025.[10]
  • 73% of U.S. staffing employees worked full time in 2025, compared with 75% of the overall workforce.[10]
  • 20% of U.S. staffing employees cited schedule flexibility as a reason for choosing temporary or contract work in 2025.[10]

13 Statistics

Sustainability & Ethics

Workforce firms track sustainability inputs and outcomes, including 301,000 associates covered by ManpowerGroup’s MyPath program in 2024–2025 and 203,700 metric tonnes of CO₂e for Randstad in 2024.

Sustainability in the employment industry

  • 13,000 Adecco Group colleagues contributed input to the company’s sustainability framework through focus groups, workshops and discussions.[51]
  • 5,900 Randstad employees contributed nearly 30,800 volunteer hours through local sustainability initiatives in 2024.[52]
  • 301,000 associates were covered by ManpowerGroup’s MyPath employability and career-pathway program in 2024–2025.[53]
  • 1,400 people secured employment or became self-employed through Randstad green-skills and entrepreneurship projects in 2024.[52]
  • 67% of workers globally say they are more likely to stay with an employer that shares their values, according to Randstad’s 2025 survey.[52]

ESG in the employment industry

  • 99.3% of Kelly Services employees acknowledged the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and completed global policy training in 2024.[54]
  • 32% was the reduction in ManpowerGroup direct Scope 1 and 2 emissions from 2019 to 2024.[53]
  • 84% was Kelly Services’ improvement relative to staffing-industry peers on its 2024 Total Recordable Incident Rate.[54]
  • 18% was the year-over-year increase in ManpowerGroup renewable-energy usage in 2024.[53]

Ethics in the employment industry

  • 100% of ManpowerGroup employees completed ethics-policy training in 2023.[55]
  • 99.3% of Kelly Services employees acknowledged the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics in 2024.[54]
  • 15 times ManpowerGroup had been named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by 2024.[53]

CSR in the employment industry

  • 1,400 people gained employment or self-employment through Randstad projects supporting green and entrepreneurial skills.[52]
  • 106 in-person volunteering activities were organized by Randstad during its 2024 Month of Heart campaign.[52]
  • 30,800 volunteer hours were contributed by 5,900 Randstad employees through local initiatives in 2024.[52]
  • 301,000 ManpowerGroup associates participated in the MyPath program, which supports employability and career pathways.[53]
  • 20% of U.S. staffing employees cited schedule flexibility as a reason for choosing temporary or contract work in 2024.[56]

Circular economy in the employment industry

  • 121–142 million people were employed in circular-economy activities worldwide, representing 5–5.8% of employment excluding agriculture.[57]
  • 157.7 million jobs could result when circular-economy employment is combined with renewable-energy employment worldwide.[57]
  • 8% of circular-economy employment was in waste-management activities.[57]
  • 46% of circular-economy employment was in repair and maintenance activities.[57]
  • 121 million people, or 86% of circular-economy workers, were employed in fully circular sectors worldwide.[57]

Carbon footprint in the employment industry

  • 203,700 metric tonnes of CO₂e were Randstad’s total emissions in 2024.[52]
  • 86% of Adecco Group’s 2024 greenhouse-gas emissions came from employee commuting.[51]
  • 764,153 metric tonnes of CO₂e were Adecco Group Scope 3.7 employee-commuting emissions in 2024.[51]
  • 46,900 metric tonnes of CO₂e were Randstad’s Scope 1 emissions in 2024.[52]
  • 155,900 metric tonnes of CO₂e were Randstad’s Scope 3 emissions in 2024.[52]

15 Statistics

Globalization & Expansion

Global placements remain concentrated in full-time roles, with 86% of the 61 million assignments arranged by private employment agencies globally in 2024 being full-time.

Globalization in the employment industry

  • 58.4 million people were placed through temporary agency work globally in 2024, compared with 2.5 million through direct recruitment.[17]
  • 61 million people were placed in jobs by private employment agencies worldwide in 2024, across more than 40 countries.[17]
  • 33.2 million people were placed in jobs by private employment agencies in APAC in 2024.[17]
  • €528.0 billion was generated in employment-agency sales revenue across North America, South America, Europe and APAC in 2024.[17]
  • 86% of the 61 million assignments arranged by private employment agencies globally in 2024 were full-time roles.[17]

Cultural adaptation in the employment industry

  • About 40% of global employers cited multilingual and cross-cultural communication skills as a benefit of hiring international candidates in 2024.[18]
  • About 40% of global employers cited increased workplace diversity as a benefit of hiring international candidates in 2024.[18]
  • About 40% of global employers cited more global strategic thinking as a benefit of hiring international candidates in 2024.[18]
  • 39.6% of talent-industry respondents identified managing a distributed workforce as a challenge in 2024.[68]
  • 43.8% of talent-industry respondents identified legal and cultural barriers in different countries as a challenge in 2024.[68]

Supplier management in the employment industry

  • 45% of surveyed procurement and workforce leaders identified recruitment process outsourcing as a procured workforce solution in 2025.[25]
  • 55% of surveyed procurement and workforce leaders identified managed service provider solutions as a procured workforce solution in 2025.[25]
  • 55% of companies reported difficulty managing contingent staffing agencies in an Allegis Global Solutions survey.[24]
  • 47% of companies reported difficulty managing statement-of-work-based services in an Allegis Global Solutions survey.[24]
  • 17% of organizations managed more than 10 external contingent-workforce providers in a 2025 survey.[26]

Stakeholder management in the employment industry

  • 59% of managers and executives did not know their organization’s employee Net Promoter Score in a 2026 workplace-culture study.[69]
  • 38% of U.S. employees strongly agreed they felt great responsibility for customer quality in 2024.[32]
  • 23% of U.S. employees strongly agreed their organization always delivers on customer promises in Q3 2025.[32]
  • 43% of U.S. employees strongly agreed they felt great responsibility for customer experience in Q3 2025.[32]
  • 42% of U.S. employees strongly agreed they felt great responsibility for customer quality in 2023.[32]

Distribution channels in the employment industry

  • 49.5% of employers used their own websites or career pages for online recruiting in 2025.[11]
  • 57% of high-volume hiring respondents rated paid social media as an effective recruitment channel in 2024.[70]
  • More than 80% of high-volume hiring respondents rated job-board advertising as an effective recruitment channel in 2024.[70]
  • 79% of Canadian vacancies used online job boards for recruitment in 2024.[71]
  • 64% of high-volume hiring respondents rated employee referrals as an effective recruitment channel in 2024.[70]

Key questions about the Employment Industry

What is the U.S. employment-services market size in 2026?
The U.S. employment-services industry generated $109.0 billion in revenue in Q2 2026 (seasonally adjusted). Employment-services payroll employment stood at 3.23 million in September 2026.
How is the market trending versus the previous quarter and year?
Latest reported U.S. employment-services revenue was $108.99 billion in Q2 2026, up 0.4% from Q1 2026 but down 0.7% from Q2 2025. The U.S. employment-services payroll employment was 3.23 million in September 2026.
Which companies lead the employment industry?
Thanks to Express Employment Professionals’ 406,000 people connected with work through more than 850 locations in 2025, it stands out for franchised placement at large footprint. PERSOL HOLDINGS stands out for workforce-management delivery across 672 group bases in Japan and overseas, whereas Randstad and others emphasize measured placement volumes or different operating models.
What technology shifts are showing up in recruitment and staffing?
AI adoption among U.S. employers is reported at 24.2% in 2026. In staffing agencies using AI, 46% said AI reduced screening time by at least half in 2025, while 10% reported agentic AI across their full workflow in 2025.
How fragmented is the U.S. staffing market structure?
The U.S. market is structurally fragmented, with 56,173 employer establishments in NAICS 5613 reported by the Census Bureau. Available industry sources do not provide a current national four-firm concentration ratio.
What is the scope of global placements and how fast are they changing?
Global agencies placed 61 million people in jobs in 2024. Industry inputs also report global agency revenue fell 4.2% in 2024 even as placements rose by nearly one million year over year to 61 million.
Reference

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APA
Kevin O'Brien. (2026, February 13). Employment Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/employment-industry-statistics
MLA
Kevin O'Brien. "Employment Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/employment-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Kevin O'Brien. 2026. "Employment Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/employment-industry-statistics.