Gitnux/Report 2026

Staffing Industry Statistics

U.S. temporary help services employer receipts are up 3.2% year over year, while staffing firms are also leaning into tech and digital HR, with 82% offering online onboarding or digital workflows. The page connects that momentum to the real business payoff, from 22% lower turnover risk with better onboarding to how agencies support hard to fill roles and manage costs like recruiting replacement churn.
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November 10, 2026Updated
Staffing Industry Statistics
Aisha OkonkwoWritten by Aisha Okonkwo·Edited by Nathan Caldwell·Fact-checked by Olivia Thornton
Published ·Updated
How this report is researched
01Editorial Scope

Before any source is gathered, an editor locks the question, what qualifies, and how the piece will be judged.

02Source Research

Search agents collect the source set and pull each data point out with its provenance attached.

Read our full methodology →

Search agents attach provenance to every extracted figure.

Next review: within 39 days

01 Industry overview

The staffing industry at a glance

The global recruitment and staffing market was valued at approximately $550 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach $920 billion by 2032, while U.S. staffing firms provided opportunities for about 11 million employees in 2024.

$550B[50]
Global market size, 2023
11 million[18]
U.S. employees served, 2024
5.0%[51]
Allegis U.S. market share, 2024
6.2%[50]
Global forecast CAGR, 2023–2032
Market size
The global recruitment and staffing market was valued at approximately $550 billion in 2023. In the United States, staffing provided job and career opportunities for about 11 million employees in 2024, including nearly 2.2 million temporary and contract employees in an average week.[50][18]
Forecast & CAGR
The global market is projected to reach approximately $920 billion by 2032, implying a compound annual growth rate of about 6.2% from 2023 to 2032. The U.S. market had contracted from its 2022 peak by 2024, with 161 of 215 firms appearing in consecutive SIA rankings reporting lower staffing revenue.[50][51]
Market share & regions
Temporary employment agency workers represented 2.3% of total employment in the EU in 2024, with the highest reported country shares in Ireland at 6.0%, Slovakia at 5.9%, Slovenia at 5.8% and the Netherlands at 4.5%. In the U.S., the largest staffing firms remain concentrated among national and multinational providers, although the market is still fragmented.[5][51]
Segmentation
U.S. staffing employees in 2024 were distributed across industrial roles at 36%, office-clerical and administrative roles at 24%, professional-managerial roles at 21%, engineering, information technology and scientific roles at 11%, and health care at 8%. Among the 224 largest U.S. firms ranked by SIA for 2024 revenue, IT was the most common primary segment, followed by industrial and healthcare staffing.[18][51]
Key players & concentration
The U.S. market remains fragmented: Allegis Group held 5.0% of the market in 2024, while Aya Healthcare and Randstad held 3.7% and 2.2%, respectively. The 224 firms generating at least $100 million in U.S. staffing revenue together represented 67.5% of the market, and the 26 firms exceeding $1 billion represented 37.9%.[51]
Trends, drivers & challenges
Staffing firms are responding to employer demand for flexibility, cost control and AI-enabled talent solutions. LinkedIn and the American Staffing Association reported in 2026 that staffing talent was building AI-literacy skills more than 40% faster than the broader market, while EU sector sources identify skills shortages, worker protection, and digital and green transitions as continuing challenges.[27][52]
Consumer behavior & competition
Staffing clients use agencies primarily for workforce flexibility and access to talent, while staffing employees span nearly all occupations. In the EU in 2024, temporary employment was concentrated in professional occupations at 21.6%, service and sales work at 21.5%, and elementary occupations at 15.3%; in the U.S., 49% of employed job seekers surveyed by the American Staffing Association believed AI recruiting tools were more biased than human recruiters.[18][5]
M&A
Staffing M&A activity remained elevated in 2025: UHY reported that preliminary first-quarter deal announcements were up 25% from the first quarter of 2024 and estimated 85–100 staffing deals for full-year 2025. In January 2026, Atlantic International announced its acquisition of Circle8 Group, creating a workforce-solutions platform with approximately $1.2 billion in unaudited annual revenue; Circle8 generated approximately $780 million in 2025 revenue.[53][54]
Regulation
EU temporary agency work is governed through a sectoral framework focused on appropriate protection for temporary agency workers and social dialogue. The European Commission reports that temporary agency workers accounted for about 2.5% of EU-27 employees on average between 2021 and 2023, while the sector continued to face implementation and worker-organization challenges.[52]
Latest news
In the latest labor-market data available before November 7, 2026, U.S. job openings rose sharply in September, with the largest increases in professional and business services, including engineering, accounting and temporary work. September layoffs fell to 1.64 million, the lowest level since March 2025, while quits rose to 3.37 million.[55]

02 Ranking

Top 10 Companies in the Staffing Industry

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

Updated November 7, 2026 · Next review December 7, 2026

Verdict

The Adecco Group leads Gitnux's 2026 staffing ranking with an Overall score of 9.5, with placed about 2 million associates on assignment every day, including joint ventures. Randstad is the highest-ranked temporary staffing provider at 9.2, with average 560,900 temporary workers weekly in 2025.

Ranked by Overall score · How we score ↓

Editor's top 3 picks

Where to start, by need.

  1. #1 Overall · Leader in workforce solutions

    The Adecco Group

    CH

    Ranked #1 · 9.5 · Workforce solutions

    Why we picked it: Global staffing at high daily throughput, spanning joint ventures across workforce solutions.

    See in ranking ↓Visit adeccogroup.com ↗

  2. Leader in temporary staffing

    Randstad

    NL

    Ranked #2 · 9.2 · Temporary staffing

    Why we picked it: Temporary staffing scale shows steady weekly volume across temporary, permanent, and professional segments.

    See in ranking ↓Visit randstad.com ↗

  3. Leader in professional staffing

    Recruit Holdings

    JP

    Ranked #3 · 8.9 · Professional staffing

    Why we picked it: Staffing is structurally central in its reporting, spanning Japan, Europe, North America, and APAC.

    See in ranking ↓Visit recruit-holdings.com ↗

Pick 1 is the #1 company overall. Picks 2 and 3 are the highest-ranked companies in the top 5 that add a new segment.

Full ranking

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

The Adecco Group

Workforce solutions · CH

9.5
2

Randstad

Temporary staffing · NL

9.2
3

Recruit Holdings

Professional staffing · JP

8.9
4

Synergie

Temporary staffing · FR

8.8
5

Kelly Services

Professional staffing · US

8.6
6

ManpowerGroup

Global temporary staffing and workforce solutions · US

8.5
7

Robert Half

Professional contract and permanent staffing · US

8.5
8

TrueBlue

U.S. industrial, frontline and skilled staffing · US

8.1
9

Hays

Specialist temporary, contract and permanent recruitment · GB

7.8
10

PageGroup

Specialist permanent and temporary recruitment · GB

7.3

How we score

  • Impact (30%): scale and weight in the market (revenue, market share, employees, market position).

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 7, 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

Aisha Okonkwo. (2026, February 13). Top 10 companies in the staffing industry. In Staffing Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/staffing-industry-statistics/#top-companies

report visual · Comparison

Revenue of the largest staffing companies

The Adecco Group leads with $24.9B in annual revenue (group level, converted to USD).

The Adecco Group$24.9B
Randstad$24.9B
Recruit Holdings$24.8B
ManpowerGroup$18.0B
Robert Half$5.4B
Kelly Services$4.3B
source-verifiedadeccogroup.com · randstad.com · file.recruit-holdings.com · sec.gov · roberthalf.com · ir.kellyservices.com2026

04 Statistics

Technology & Innovation

AI adoption is widespread: 78% of staffing-industry respondents integrated AI into business or recruiting operations in 2025.

AI in the staffing industry

  • 78% of staffing-industry survey respondents had integrated AI into business or recruiting operations in 2025, with 57% using Sense and 14% using free tools such as ChatGPT.[1]
  • 55% of staffing agencies that had adopted AI used conversational AI in 2025, followed by resume-parsing or database-cleanup AI at 45%.[2]
  • 61% of recruitment agencies used AI in 2025, up from 48% in 2024, according to a staffing-industry technology survey.[3]
  • 57% of staffing firms using AI applied it to generate recruiting content in 2025, while 38% used it to automate candidate communication.[1]

Automation in the staffing industry

  • Fewer than 50% of staffing firms automated many stages of the recruitment cycle in 2025, particularly in middle- and back-office processes.[4]
  • 18% of staffing-firm AI users automated interview scheduling in 2025, while 20% automated candidate screening and 20% automated application-information collection.[1]

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

  • 40.4% of EU enterprises in professional, scientific and technical activities used at least one AI technology 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]
  • 35.51% of EU professional, scientific and technical enterprises using AI applied it to business-administration or management processes in 2025.[5]
  • 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]

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]
  • 18.55% of EU professional, scientific and technical enterprises using AI applied it to ICT security 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]
  • 27.33% of EU professional, scientific and technical enterprises using AI applied it to production processes in 2025.[5]

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

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

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]
  • 46.8% of Swedish 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]

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

  • 52.0% of South Korean professional, scientific and technical enterprises used Internet-of-Things technologies in 2022.[8]
  • 35.6% of Swedish professional, scientific and technical enterprises used Internet-of-Things technologies in 2021.[8]
  • 42.6% of Austrian professional, scientific and technical enterprises used Internet-of-Things technologies in 2021.[8]
  • 36.3% of Irish professional, scientific and technical enterprises used Internet-of-Things technologies in 2021.[8]

Innovation in the staffing industry

  • 43% of staffing-industry talent-management professionals used AI in HR tasks in 2025, compared with 26% in 2024.[9]
  • 27% of recruitment-industry respondents expected search-and-match AI agents to have the biggest future impact on recruiter productivity in 2025.[4]
  • 40% of staffing-firm respondents believed AI would fundamentally reshape recruiting and talent engagement, while 36% expected it mainly to support existing processes.[1]

05 Statistics

Data & Analytics

Analytics shows up in recurring reporting habits and decision metrics, with 82% of recruiting professionals using analytics to improve strategy in 2025.

Business intelligence in the staffing industry

  • 48% of recruiting professionals regularly pulled recruiter-activity reports in 2025.[10]
  • 82% of recruiting professionals used analytics to improve recruiting strategy in 2025, globally.[10]
  • 86% of recruiting organizations with at least 250 employees used analytics in 2025, compared with 74% of small businesses.[10]
  • 30% of recruiting decision-makers ranked quality of hire as the most valuable metric for tracking recruiting success in 2025.[10]

Data analytics in the staffing industry

  • 55% of recruiting professionals regularly pulled time-to-hire reports in 2025.[10]
  • 56% of recruiting professionals regularly pulled candidate-experience reports in 2025.[10]
  • 55% of recruiting professionals regularly pulled hiring-cost reports in 2025.[10]
  • 40% of recruiting professionals regularly pulled sourcing reports in 2025.[10]

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

  • 95% of enterprise companies with at least $1 billion in revenue had experienced a data-quality issue directly affecting business outcomes in 2024.[11]
  • 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]
  • 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]
  • 67% of supply management organizations said their data quality was better or significantly better than two years earlier in 2024.[12]
  • 87% of enterprise data leaders said traditional rules-based approaches to data quality did not scale to current needs in 2024.[11]

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

  • 18.3% of organizations used a data-governance or catalog solution as part of their governance program in 2024.[14]
  • 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.[14]
  • 32% of organizations in the 2024 governance study had a formal governance organization in place, while 68% had none.[14]
  • 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 staffing industry

  • 63% of staffing professionals selected job fill rate as one of their three most important recruiting metrics for 2025.[1]
  • 24% of staffing professionals said their time-to-hire decreased during the previous year.[1]
  • 39% of staffing recruiters spent 11–20 hours per week screening candidates in 2025.[1]
  • 35% of staffing recruiters spent 11–20 hours per week sourcing candidates in 2025.[1]

06 Statistics

Strategy & Growth

Growth expectations remain broad, with 96% of staffing agencies expecting some revenue growth in 2025, while AI adoption differentiates contracting risk.

Growth in the staffing industry

  • 50% of staffing growth agencies used an entirely owned top-three sourcing mix in 2025, compared with 27% of flat or slow-growth agencies.[2]
  • 96% of staffing agencies expected some revenue growth in 2025, while 2% expected contraction.[2]
  • 42% of staffing agencies reported losing revenue in 2025, according to a 2026 benchmark survey of 231 agency leaders.[2]
  • 56% of staffing agencies using no AI in any process contracted in 2025, compared with 31% of heavy AI users.[2]

Differentiation in the staffing industry

  • 62% of fast-growth staffing agencies planned new technology purchases in 2025.[2]
  • 61% of staffing agencies used AI in 2025, up from 48% in 2024.[2]
  • 86% of fast-growth staffing agencies had formal referral programs in 2025, compared with 60% of no-growth agencies.[2]

Mergers and acquisitions in the staffing industry

  • 28 healthcare-staffing transactions were completed in 2025, four more than in 2024.[15]
  • 197 human-resources and staffing-services transactions were recorded in 2024, 9.4% more than in 2023.[15]
  • 19% of UK recruitment-sector deals in 2025 involved an overseas bidder, representing 14 acquisitions.[16]
  • 726 global staffing-services transactions were recorded in 2024, with aggregate deal value of $16.4 billion.[17]

07 Statistics

People & Workforce

Staffing reaches large volumes of job opportunities; U.S. staffing industry delivered jobs or career opportunities for 9.5 million employees in 2025.

Hiring in the staffing industry

  • 64% of staffing employees in the United States worked through staffing agencies to fill a gap between jobs or help land a job in 2025.[18]
  • 9.5 million employees received jobs or career opportunities through the U.S. staffing industry in 2025.[18]
  • 56% of recruitment firms reported revenue growth in 2025, compared with 40% in 2024, while tight talent pools and falling job volumes remained their leading challenge for 2026.[4]

Employee retention in the staffing industry

  • 73% of candidates were more likely to keep working with a staffing firm when their recruiter provided prompt communication in 2023.[4]
  • 63% of placed staffing candidates were very likely to use their staffing firm again when they said the firm got to know them personally, versus 25% when they said it did not.[19]
  • 22% of placed staffing candidates said their firm did not work to get to know them as a person in the 2024 survey.[19]

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

  • About 45% of U.S. professional and business-services workers worked remotely during October 2023–September 2024, including hybrid and fully remote work.[20]
  • 54% of U.S. professional-services firms reported having at least one paid work-from-home employee in November 2024–January 2025.[21]
  • 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.[22]
  • 37.21% was the average share of paid workdays performed from home by U.S. professional and business-services employees in January 2025.[23]

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

  • Across U.S. professional and business services, 22% of full-time employees worked fully from home during January–April 2025.[24]
  • 61% of U.S. employees with remote-capable jobs preferred hybrid work in November 2025, compared with 33% preferring fully remote work.[25]
  • Across U.S. professional and business services, 39% of full-time employees worked fully onsite during January–April 2025.[24]
  • 27% of U.S. full-time employees worked in a hybrid arrangement in 2025, compared with 12% fully remote and 61% fully on-site.[26]
  • Across U.S. professional and business services, 38% of full-time employees worked hybrid schedules during January–April 2025.[24]

Upskilling in the staffing industry

  • More than 10 new prominent skills emerged in 6 of 10 major industries employing staffing talent between 2019 and 2025, indicating substantial skills change among contingent workers.[27]
  • 12 new prominent skills appeared in construction staffing talent in 2025, while manufacturing and transportation each recorded 11.[27]
  • 14 new prominent skills appeared in professional-services staffing talent in 2025, the highest number among the 10 industries analyzed.[27]

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.[25]
  • 32% of U.S. employees were engaged at work in 2024, while 17% were actively disengaged.[25]
  • 32% of U.S. employees were engaged at work in 2025, while 17% were actively disengaged.[25]
  • 34% of U.S. employees were engaged at work in 2022, while 16% were actively disengaged.[25]

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

  • 21% of transformation teams identified stakeholder-engagement strategies as their primary change-management approach in 2024.[28]
  • 17% of transformation teams identified training and development programs as their primary change-management approach in 2024.[28]
  • 75% of global business-services organizations considered change management critical in 2022.[29]
  • 22% of transformation teams identified communication plans as their primary change-management approach in 2024.[28]
  • 16% of global business-services organizations managed change systemically across their initiatives in 2022.[29]

08 Statistics

Customer & Sales

Buyers and candidates reward speed and relationship quality: 40% of candidates gave up because the process did not move quickly enough.

Customer retention in the staffing industry

  • 88% of staffing clients receiving good service were more likely to be retained, according to the 2025 Staffing Buyer Insights Report.[19]
  • Staffing clients were 38 percentage points less likely to reuse a firm when the firm did not get to know placed talent personally, falling from 63% to 25%.[19]

Customer acquisition in the staffing industry

  • 42% of staffing agencies reported that securing new clients was an obstacle to growth in the 2025 State of Staffing survey.[2]
  • Hiring freezes and budget constraints were the biggest obstacles to winning new staffing business for 2026, according to recruitment-firm respondents surveyed in 2025.[4]

Customer loyalty in the staffing industry

  • 40% of candidates who gave up working with a recruiter did so because the staffing process did not move quickly enough, according to Bullhorn’s latest Talent Trends research.[4]
  • 98% of candidates with a very positive AI voice-agent interview experience were satisfied with their staffing firm’s speed and responsiveness.[4]
  • Contingent workers were 50% more likely to be loyal to staffing firms that provided a smooth hiring experience in 2023.[4]

09 Statistics

Marketing & Brand

Software purchasing ties to automation evaluation: 46% of staffing agencies planning software purchases considered recruiting or marketing automation.

Marketing in the staffing industry

  • Client referrals, LinkedIn, and digital advertising were identified as the leading sources of new staffing business in a 2024 staffing-industry survey.[1]
  • 46% of staffing agencies planning software purchases are considering recruiting or marketing automation, according to the 2025 State of Staffing survey, 2025.[2]
  • 0.5% of revenue is spent on marketing by staffing firms, according to Staffing Industry Analysts research cited by the American Staffing Association, United States, 2024.[18]

Digital marketing in the staffing industry

  • 21% of staffing agencies planning software purchases are considering automated referral-management technology, according to the 2025 State of Staffing survey.[2]
  • 46% of staffing agencies planning new software purchases are considering recruiting or marketing automation, according to Staffing Hub’s 2025 survey.[2]
  • 29% of staffing agencies planning software purchases are considering text-messaging or communications platforms, according to the 2025 State of Staffing survey.[2]

Branding in the staffing industry

  • 5.28% was the average share of employees posting company content on social media across the staffing and recruitment sector in August 2026.[30]
  • 37.78% of employees at the highest-ranked staffing and recruitment organization shared company content on social media in August 2026.[30]
  • More than 60% greater candidate satisfaction was reported for candidates placed by Best of Staffing award-winning agencies, according to Adecco’s 2026 report.[31]

Social media in the staffing industry

  • 37.78% of employees at gpac, the global leader in DSMN8’s August 2026 ranking, shared company content on social media.[30]
  • 5.28% was the average proportion of employees sharing company content across the staffing and recruitment sector in August 2026.[30]
  • 31.60% was the decline in employee social-content sharing across the staffing and recruitment sector between DSMN8’s March and August 2026 reports.[30]
  • 55% of staffing firms said they used social media primarily for recruiting, while 5% used it primarily for sales, in the 2019 North America Staffing Company Survey.[32]

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

  • 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.[33]
  • 78% of B2B influencer-marketing practitioners identify brand awareness and lead generation as their joint top challenges, based on Q1 2026 research.[33]
  • 74% of B2B influencers use artificial-intelligence tools to enhance content creation, based on Q1 2026 research.[33]
  • 44% of B2B influencer-marketing practitioners say finding the right talent is their single biggest collaboration obstacle, based on Q1 2026 research.[33]

10 Statistics

Operations & Execution

Process automation shows measurable execution gains in throughput and time-to-place, including 26% less time to place for firms using automation.

Process optimization in the staffing industry

  • 39% more candidate submissions per employee are generated by staffing firms that automate their processes, according to Bullhorn data, global staffing industry, 2024.[4]
  • 22% more jobs are filled by staffing firms that automate their processes, according to Bullhorn data, global staffing industry, 2024.[4]
  • 54% of staffing firms report automation for candidate search, while automation is less prevalent in payroll and billing, according to Bullhorn’s 2026 report.[4]
  • 26% less time to place is reported by staffing firms using process automation, according to Bullhorn data, global staffing industry, 2024.[4]

Operational efficiency in the staffing industry

  • 81% of leaders at the highest-growth staffing firms feel prepared to lead their organizations through AI transformation, according to Bullhorn’s 2026 report.[4]
  • 2.4 times as many high-performing staffing firms automate gathering client requirements compared with other firms, according to Bullhorn’s 2024 report.[4]
  • 10% of staffing firms report having AI embedded throughout their workflow, according to Bullhorn’s 2026 global recruitment-industry survey.[4]
  • 59% of the highest-performing staffing firms placed candidates within 19 days or less in 2023, according to Bullhorn’s global staffing analysis.[4]

Quality management in the staffing industry

  • Quality of hire was the leading measurement priority for staffing organizations in Checkr’s 2026 CHRO survey.[34]
  • 34.72% of staffing-agency recruiters said their recruitment processes were very well defined and consistently followed across the business in Atlas’s 2026 survey.[35]
  • 26% of candidates reported dissatisfaction with interview-process communication when interacting with an AI voice agent, down from 40% without that interaction, according to Bullhorn’s 2025 report.[4]
  • More than 60% greater complete satisfaction was reported by candidates placed through Best of Staffing award-winning agencies compared with other agencies, according to Adecco’s 2026 report.[31]

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]
  • 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.[36]
  • 65% of U.S. CPA firms participating in the 2025 National MAP Survey that offshored used India, followed by 33% using the Philippines.[36]
  • 47.5% of EU enterprises sourcing abroad sourced administrative and management functions internationally during 2021–2023.[5]
  • 39% of EU enterprises sourcing abroad outsourced business functions to external providers during 2021–2023, while 72% used affiliated-group insourcing.[5]

11 Statistics

Finance & Pricing

Margins vary widely and automation is expected to affect cost structure; average gross margin for U.S. staffing firms was 23.2% in 2025.

Pricing strategy in the staffing industry

  • 68% of staffing agencies expected gross margins between 11% and 50% in 2025, compared with 46% reporting that range in 2024.[2]
  • 23.2% was the average gross margin for U.S. staffing firms in 2025, according to Staffing Hub’s 2026 report on back-office automation.[2]
  • 16% was the 25th-percentile gross margin reported by participating temporary and contract staffing companies in the American Staffing Association’s benchmark report.[37]
  • 23% was the median gross margin reported by participating temporary and contract staffing companies in the American Staffing Association’s financial benchmark report.[37]

Cost reduction in the staffing industry

  • 39% more submissions per employee are produced by staffing firms using process automation, according to Bullhorn data, global staffing industry, 2024.[4]
  • 25% of staffing agencies with the most software platforms had integrated those platforms, according to Staffing Hub’s 2026 report.[2]
  • 5.5 separate software platforms were used on average by staffing agencies, according to Staffing Hub’s 2026 report on manual back-office operations.[2]
  • 26% less time to place is reported by staffing firms using automation, according to Bullhorn data, global staffing industry, 2024.[4]

Profitability in the staffing industry

  • 68% of staffing agencies projected gross margins between 11% and 50% for 2025, according to Staffing Hub’s 2025 State of Staffing report.[2]
  • 42% was the decline in enterprise-value-to-revenue multiples for the five largest staffing firms from 2021 levels, according to RSM US, 2026.[38]
  • One in three staffing agencies operated below a 20% gross margin in 2025, according to Staffing Hub’s 2026 report.[2]
  • 23.2% was the average gross margin for U.S. staffing firms in 2025, according to Staffing Hub’s 2026 back-office automation report.[2]

Financial planning in the staffing industry

  • 1.0% was the median expected growth in temporary and contract staffing sales among private U.S. staffing firms for 2024, according to Staffing Industry Analysts’ 2024 Staffing Industry Playbook.[39]
  • $10.0 million was the median total labor cost reported by participating temporary and contract staffing companies in the American Staffing Association’s financial benchmark report.[37]
  • $11.6 million was the median temporary and contract staffing sales reported by participating firms in the American Staffing Association’s financial benchmark report.[37]
  • 42% was the decline in enterprise-value-to-revenue multiples for the five largest staffing firms from 2021 levels, highlighting capital-efficiency pressure in 2026.[38]

12 Statistics

Product & Service

Agencies signal specific bottlenecks by stage: sourcing is the most challenging or time-consuming stage for 58% of staffing professionals in 2025.

Product development in the staffing industry

  • 18% of recruitment firms reported being in advanced stages of digital transformation in 2025, globally.[4]
  • 77% of recruitment firms focused on increasing market share through new solutions and services in 2025, globally.[4]
  • 22% of staffing agencies identified implementing technology, automation and AI as a major opportunity for growth in 2025, United States.[2]
  • 62% of fast-growth staffing agencies planned new technology purchases for 2025, compared with lower-growth agencies.[2]

Product lifecycle in the staffing industry

  • 19% of staffing professionals identified interviewing as the most challenging or time-consuming recruiting-process stage in 2025.[1]
  • 58% of staffing professionals identified sourcing as the most challenging or time-consuming recruiting-process stage in 2025.[1]
  • 16% of staffing professionals identified screening as the most challenging or time-consuming recruiting-process stage in 2025.[1]
  • 7% of staffing professionals identified onboarding and start-date preparation as the most challenging or time-consuming recruiting-process stage in 2025.[1]

After-sales in the staffing industry

  • 66% of staffing professionals said candidates expected more from recruiters in 2025, while 33% said expectations stayed the same.[1]
  • 57% of staffing professionals reported that candidate drop-off increased during the previous year.[1]
  • 16% of staffing agencies identified improving client services as a major opportunity for growth in 2025, United States.[2]
  • 43% of staffing professionals said their time-to-hire stayed the same during the previous year, while 33% said it increased.[1]

Value proposition in the staffing industry

  • 40% of recruitment firms reported revenue growth in 2024, while nearly 70% predicted revenue growth for 2025, globally.[4]
  • 31% of staffing agencies identified quality of hire as their leading metric for measuring talent-source return on investment in 2025.[2]
  • 63% of staffing professionals identified job fill rate as one of their most important recruiting metrics for 2025.[1]
  • 77% of recruitment firms focused on increasing market share in 2025, making it their leading financial-performance strategy.[4]

14 Statistics

Globalization & Expansion

Cross-border placement scales through agencies, including 22.6 million people placed in jobs through agencies in China in 2024.

Globalization in the staffing industry

  • 11.2 million people were placed in jobs through agencies in the United States in 2024.[48]
  • 22.6 million people were placed in jobs through agencies in China in 2024, the largest national total reported.[48]
  • 3.2 million additional people were placed in jobs in 2024 by agencies in China, India and Brazil combined, compared with 2023.[48]
  • 61 million people were placed in jobs by private employment agencies worldwide in 2024.[48]

Distribution channels in the staffing industry

  • 24% was the average share of staffing placements generated by job boards in a 2026 analysis of 88,000 placements.[49]
  • 23% was the average share of staffing placements generated by direct outreach in a 2026 analysis of 88,000 placements.[49]
  • 91% of staffing agencies reported making at least some placements through referrals in 2026.[49]
  • 24% of staffing agencies had an automated or advanced referral program in 2026.[49]
  • 16% was the average share of staffing placements generated through ATS or CRM candidate rediscovery in 2026.[49]

Key questions about the Staffing Industry

How big is the global recruitment and staffing market?
The global recruitment and staffing market was valued at approximately $550 billion in 2023.
What growth rate does the market forecast imply?
The global market is projected to reach approximately $920 billion by 2032, implying about 6.2% CAGR from 2023 to 2032.
Which companies lead the staffing industry?
The Adecco Group leads Gitnux's 2026 staffing ranking with an Overall score of 9.5, with placed about 2 million associates on assignment every day, including joint ventures. Randstad is the highest-ranked temporary staffing provider at 9.2, with average 560,900 temporary workers weekly in 2025.
How fast are agencies adopting AI and automation in recruiting operations?
In 2025, 61% of recruitment agencies used AI, up from 48% in 2024. In 2025, 78% of staffing-industry survey respondents had integrated AI into business or recruiting operations.
Is the market concentrated or fragmented?
The U.S. market remains fragmented: Allegis held 5.0% in 2024, and the 224 largest U.S. firms represented 67.5% of the market while the 26 exceeding $1 billion represented 37.9%.
Where does staffing revenue momentum show up operationally?
Bullhorn data (global staffing industry, 2024) links automation to more throughput: 39% more candidate submissions per employee and 22% more jobs filled.
Reference

Cite This Report

This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.

APA
Aisha Okonkwo. (2026, February 13). Staffing Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/staffing-industry-statistics
MLA
Aisha Okonkwo. "Staffing Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/staffing-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Aisha Okonkwo. 2026. "Staffing Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/staffing-industry-statistics.

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