Gitnux/Report 2026

Staffing Agency Industry Statistics

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Staffing Agency Industry Statistics
Samuel NorbergWritten by Samuel Norberg·Fact-checked by Maya Johansson
Published
How this report is researched
01Editorial Scope

Gitnux editors write the brief first: the topic, the inclusion rules, and the frame for what belongs.

02Source Research

Agents search the published record and log every extracted figure back to the passage it came from.

Read our full methodology →

Search agents attach provenance to every extracted figure.

Next review: within 39 days

01 Industry overview

The staffing agency industry at a glance

The global recruitment market generated $220 billion in net fees in 2024, while staffing agencies continued to support millions of temporary, contract and permanent workers across major labor markets.

$220B[65]
Global recruitment fees, 2024
9.5M[31]
U.S. temporary hires, 2025
2.0M[31]
Weekly U.S. staffing workers, 2025
2.3%[5]
EU agency-work employment share, 2024
Market size
The global recruitment market generated $220 billion in net fees in the 12 months to December 2024, according to data cited by Hays from Staffing Industry Analysts. Professional recruitment represented about 60% of global recruitment net fees.[65]
Forecast & CAGR
Hays reported that the global recruitment market is expected to grow by about 8% annually over the five years following 2024, reaching approximately $320 billion. The forecast covers recruitment net fees and excludes candidates hired directly by in-house human-resources teams.[65]
Market share & regions
The global professional recruitment market is geographically concentrated: 21 countries accounted for 95% of the market in 2024. In the European Union, temporary employment agency workers represented 2.3% of total employment among people aged 15–64 in 2024, with the highest reported shares in Latvia, Ireland, Slovakia and Slovenia.[65][5]
Segmentation
Staffing and recruitment services span temporary, contract, permanent, part-time, seasonal and freelance staffing. Major end-market segments include industrial, office and administrative, professional and managerial, engineering and information technology, scientific and healthcare staffing.[66]
Key players & concentration
The market remains fragmented beneath a group of large multinational firms. Hays reported only about a 0.5% share of the global recruitment market in 2024, while the 21-country concentration of 95% of professional recruitment indicates strong geographic concentration but limited dominance by any single provider.[65]
Trends, drivers & challenges
Demand is being supported by labor shortages, employer use of flexible workforces and the need to fill healthcare, technology and other specialized roles. At the same time, staffing demand remains cyclical and sensitive to economic uncertainty, labor-market cooling, immigration policy and tariffs.[16][67]
Consumer behavior & competition
In the United States, 73% of staffing employees worked full time in 2025, 64% used staffing to bridge jobs or enter employment, and 20% cited schedule flexibility as a reason for choosing temporary or contract work. Competition is shifting toward specialized talent, managed-service programs, vendor-management systems and technology-enabled recruiting.[31][68]
M&A
Global staffing-services M&A activity reached 726 transactions in 2024, with reported aggregate deal value of $16.4 billion; 2025 year-to-date activity stood at 566 transactions and $30.1 billion as of November 17, 2025. In U.S. staffing, UHY reported that first-quarter 2025 deal announcements were up 25% from the first quarter of 2024.[15][16]
Regulation
In the European Union, temporary agency workers are covered by the Temporary Agency Work Directive, which establishes equal-treatment principles for pay and working conditions relative to comparable employees at the user undertaking. Eurostat classifies agency workers separately in labor-market statistics, with 2.3% of EU employment in this category in 2024.[69][5]
Latest news
Recent industry activity has centered on cautious consolidation and specialized staffing. Healthcare staffing M&A increased to 28 transactions in 2025 from 24 in 2024, while U.S. staffing deal activity rose 25% year over year in the first quarter of 2025, according to sector reports.[67][16]

02 Ranking

Top 10 Companies in the Staffing Agency Industry

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

Updated November 10, 2026 · Next review December 10, 2026

Verdict

Aya Healthcare leads Gitnux's 2026 staffing agency ranking with an Overall score of 9.4, with largest healthcare staffing firm described on SIA’s 2023 fastest-growing staffing list. The Adecco Group is the highest-ranked workforce services at 9.0, with temporary staffing, permanent placement, and workforce solutions in 60 countries and territories.

Ranked by Overall score · How we score ↓

Editor's top 3 picks

Where to start, by need.

  1. #1 Overall · Leader in healthcare staffing

    Aya Healthcare

    US

    Ranked #1 · 9.4 · Healthcare staffing

    Why we picked it: It specializes in healthcare, nursing and allied health staffing, backed by third-party list recognition.

    See in ranking ↓Visit ayahealthcare.com ↗

  2. Leader in workforce services

    The Adecco Group

    CH

    Ranked #2 · 9.0 · Workforce services

    Why we picked it: Its global footprint spans temporary staffing through permanent placement in 60 countries and territories.

    See in ranking ↓Visit adeccogroup.com ↗

  3. Leader in temporary staffing

    PERSOL Holdings

    JP

    Ranked #3 · 8.8 · Temporary staffing

    Why we picked it: Its Japanese staffing focus is tied to ¥602.4 billion FY2025 Staffing SBU revenue.

    See in ranking ↓Visit persol-group.co.jp ↗

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 agency industry, 2026 – Gitnux ranking
#CompanyOverall ↓Company snapshot
1

Aya Healthcare

Healthcare staffing · US

9.4
2

The Adecco Group

Workforce services · CH

9.0
3

PERSOL Holdings

Temporary staffing · JP

8.8
4

ManpowerGroup

Workforce services · US

8.5
5

Randstad

Temporary staffing · NL

8.4
6

Synergie

European temporary employment and recruitment · FR

8.3
7

Robert Half

Professional staffing and specialized recruitment · US

8.1
8

Hays

Specialist skilled temporary and permanent recruitment · GB

7.7
9

TrueBlue

Industrial, on-demand and healthcare staffing · US

7.7
10

PageGroup

Professional recruitment and temporary placement · GB

7.3

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 10, 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

Samuel Norberg. (2026, November 10). Top 10 companies in the staffing agency industry. In Staffing Agency Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/staffing-agency-industry-statistics/#top-companies

report visual · Projection

U.S. staffing companies' temporary staffing services revenue

U.S. staffing companies' temporary staffing services revenue grew from $150.5B in 2020 to $186.3B in 2023.

$150.5B
Start
+7.38%
CAGR · 3y
$186.3B
Projected
20202023
source-verifiedamericanstaffing.net2023

04 Statistics

Technology & Innovation

AI adoption shows up in candidate and recruiter experience and administration; 44% implemented generative AI in 2025. Automation planning also clusters around interview scheduling, cited by 35% for 2025.

AI in the staffing agency industry

  • 45% of staffing agencies using AI reported an enhanced candidate or recruiter experience in 2025.[1]
  • 23% of staffing agencies using AI reported lower cost-per-hire in 2025.[1]
  • 44% of staffing agencies using AI had implemented generative AI in 2025.[1]
  • 45% of staffing agencies using AI had implemented resume-parsing or database-cleanup AI in 2025.[1]
  • 57% of staffing firms with an AI strategy reported revenue growth in 2023.[2]
  • 73.8% of staffing agencies not yet using AI planned to adopt it in 2025.[1]

Automation in the staffing agency industry

  • More than one-third of industrial, logistics, office, clerical and administrative staffing agencies had automated six or more processes in 2023.[1]
  • 35% of staffing agencies planned to automate interview scheduling in 2025.[1]
  • 10.5% of staffing agencies using a vendor-management system used SimpleVMS in 2025.[1]
  • 47% of staffing agencies had automated between one and five processes in 2023.[1]
  • 23% of staffing agencies had automated six or more processes in 2023.[1]
  • 30% of staffing agencies had no automated processes in 2023.[1]

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

  • 51% of U.S. technology executives reported no increase in performance or profitability from digital-transformation investments during the previous two years.[3]
  • 55% of business-services CEOs identified keeping pace with technology and AI transformation as their greatest concern in PwC’s 2025 global CEO survey.[4]
  • 40.4% of EU enterprises in professional, scientific and technical activities used at least one AI technology in 2025.[5]
  • 35.51% of EU professional, scientific and technical enterprises using AI applied it to business-administration or management processes in 2025.[5]

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

  • 18.55% of EU professional, scientific and technical enterprises using AI applied it to ICT security 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]
  • 22.32% of EU professional, scientific and technical enterprises using AI applied it to research and development or innovation activities 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.[6]
  • 90.7% of Australian professional, scientific and technical enterprises used cloud computing services in 2022.[6]
  • 80.4% of Danish professional, scientific and technical enterprises used cloud computing services in 2023.[6]
  • 77.7% of Dutch professional, scientific and technical enterprises used cloud computing services in 2023.[6]

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.[6]
  • 47.5% of German professional, scientific and technical enterprises conducted big-data analysis in 2023.[6]
  • 45.4% of Finnish professional, scientific and technical enterprises conducted big-data analysis in 2023.[6]
  • 46.8% of Swedish professional, scientific and technical enterprises conducted big-data analysis in 2023.[6]

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

  • 35.6% of Swedish professional, scientific and technical enterprises used Internet-of-Things technologies in 2021.[6]
  • 36.3% of Irish professional, scientific and technical enterprises used Internet-of-Things technologies in 2021.[6]

05 Statistics

Data & Analytics

Operators cite operational drag from manual work: 36.99% in 2026. AI is also used for reporting and analytics by 35.62% of agencies in the same survey.

Business intelligence in the staffing agency industry

  • 5.7% of staffing agencies used TrackerRMS as their applicant tracking system in 2025.[1]
  • 42% of staffing agencies lost revenue in 2025, according to a benchmarking survey of 231 operators.[1]
  • 21.7% of staffing agencies reported using another applicant tracking system rather than the named platforms in 2025.[1]
  • 36.99% of recruitment agencies cited too much manual work as an operational challenge in the 2026 global agency survey.[7]
  • 12.33% of recruitment agencies cited insufficient internal support as an operational challenge in the 2026 global agency survey.[7]
  • 24.66% of recruitment agencies cited a lack of standardized processes as an operational challenge in the 2026 global agency survey.[7]

Data analytics in the staffing agency industry

  • 80.82% of recruitment agencies used AI for administrative and data-entry tasks in the 2026 global agency survey.[7]
  • 35.62% of recruitment agencies used AI for reporting and analytics in the 2026 global agency survey.[7]
  • 23% of staffing agencies using AI had implemented sales or recruiting intelligence AI in 2025.[1]
  • 17% of staffing agencies using AI had implemented reporting or analytics AI in 2025.[1]
  • 42.47% of recruitment agencies used AI for resume screening in the 2026 global agency survey.[7]
  • 32% of staffing agencies using AI had not yet seen a measurable impact in 2025.[1]

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.[8]
  • 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.[9]
  • 87% of enterprise data leaders said traditional rules-based approaches to data quality did not scale to current needs in 2024.[8]
  • 50% of organizations identified data-quality issues as the biggest challenge affecting their data-integration projects in 2024.[10]
  • 23% of supply management firms spent at least 21% of their time cleaning data in 2024.[9]
  • 67% of supply management organizations said their data quality was better or significantly better than two years earlier in 2024.[9]

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

  • 81% of supply management organizations found their data-governance program useful in 2024.[9]
  • 71% of global organizations reported having a data-governance program in 2024, up from 60% in 2023.[10]
  • 61% of organizations had a dedicated data-governance function in 2024, according to a survey of more than 121 supply management professionals.[9]
  • 18.3% of organizations used a data-governance or catalog solution as part of their governance program in 2024.[11]
  • 33% of North American organizations had a formal data-governance organization in place in 2024.[11]
  • 32% of organizations in the 2024 governance study had a formal governance organization in place, while 68% had none.[11]

KPIs in the staffing agency industry

  • 24% of staffing firms said their time-to-hire decreased during the previous year in the 2025 survey.[12]
  • 63% of staffing firms identified job fill rate as one of their most important recruiting metrics for 2025.[12]
  • 33% of staffing firms said their time-to-hire increased during the previous year in the 2025 survey.[12]
  • 44% of staffing firms identified winning new business as their top priority for 2024.[2]
  • 23% of staffing firms said their candidate drop-off rate stayed the same during the previous year in the 2025 survey.[12]
  • 43% of staffing firms said their time-to-hire stayed the same during the previous year in the 2025 survey.[12]

06 Statistics

Strategy & Growth

U.S. staffing market projections anchor near-term growth; $183.1 billion is expected for 2026. M&A remains active, with $16.4 billion aggregate value in 2024.

Growth in the staffing agency industry

  • $183.1 billion is the projected U.S. staffing-market value for 2026, representing 2.4% growth from 2025.[13]
  • 32% of staffing agencies projected revenue growth of at least 21% for 2025.[1]
  • 7.4% was the median projected staffing-sector revenue growth rate for 2026.[14]
  • 13% of recruitment firms reported revenue growth exceeding 25% in 2025.[2]
  • $187.0 billion is the projected U.S. staffing-market value for 2027, representing 2.2% growth from 2026.[13]
  • 20% of staffing agencies projected revenue growth of 21% to 50% for 2025.[1]

Differentiation in the staffing agency industry

  • 41% of slow-growth staffing agencies used a differentiation-focus strategy in 2022.[1]
  • 37% of fast-growth staffing agencies used a differentiation-focus strategy in 2022.[1]
  • 69% of candidates had encountered AI used by their staffing firm for prescreening or interviewing in 2026.[2]
  • 93% of candidates with a positive AI experience said they would continue working with their staffing firm in 2026.[2]
  • 17% of slow-growth staffing agencies used a focus strategy in 2022.[1]
  • 7% of agencies reported having AI embedded throughout their workflow in 2026.[2]

Mergers and acquisitions in the staffing agency industry

  • $16.4 billion was the aggregate value of global staffing-services transactions in 2024.[15]
  • 116 staffing transactions were announced in 2023, down 17% from 2022.[16]
  • 102 notable human-capital transactions were identified in 2024 by Delancey Street Partners.[14]
  • $30.1 billion was the aggregate value of global staffing-services transactions recorded year to date in 2025 as of November 17.[15]
  • 105 or more staffing deals were announced annually on average from 2018 through 2024.[16]
  • 31.9% of 2024 staffing transactions by vertical involved healthcare staffing.[14]

Strategic partnerships in the staffing agency industry

  • 13 temporary staffing contracts were converted to permanent staff positions through a 2024 Alaska healthcare partnership.[17]
  • $244,000 was saved for long-term workforce initiatives through a 2024 Alaska healthcare staffing partnership.[17]
  • 64% was the year-over-year reduction in agency full-time-equivalent usage reported by Presbyterian Healthcare Services through its ShiftMed partnership.[18]
  • 31% was the reduction in agency utilization achieved by a healthcare facility through a 2024 partnership with Favorite Healthcare Staffing.[17]
  • 115% was the fill rate achieved during the 2023 peak season in an Adecco client partnership.[19]
  • 87% was the increase in pay rates achieved during an Adecco staffing partnership’s retail peak-season program.[19]

07 Statistics

People & Workforce

Workflow speed shows up in churn drivers: 32% of candidates stopped because the process took too long in 2024. Remote work preferences also remain high, with 54% preferring hybrid in November 2025.

Hiring in the staffing agency industry

  • 31% of staffing agencies identified quality of hire as their leading talent-source return-on-investment metric in the 2025 survey.[1]
  • 40% of staffing-firm chief executives were women in the same 2024 industry survey.[20]
  • 32% of staffing candidates stopped working with a firm because its process took too long in 2024.[2]
  • 43% of staffing firms cited talent shortages as a top industry challenge in 2024.[2]
  • 53% of contingent workers chose their current staffing firm because of a positive personal or reported experience in 2024.[2]

Employee retention in the staffing agency industry

  • 40.6% was the turnover rate for Black internal staffing employees in the 2022 study.[21]
  • 35.7% was the turnover rate for Hispanic or Latino internal staffing employees in the 2022 study.[21]
  • 26.8% was the turnover rate for male internal staffing employees in the 2022 study.[21]
  • 10.4 months was the average tenure of temporary and contract staffing employees in the United States in 2023.[20]
  • 22.4% was the turnover rate for white internal staffing employees in the 2022 study.[21]

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

  • 37.21% was the average share of paid workdays performed from home by U.S. professional and business-services employees in January 2025.[22]
  • 54% of U.S. professional-services firms reported having at least one paid work-from-home employee in November 2024–January 2025.[23]
  • 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.[24]
  • About 45% of U.S. professional and business-services workers worked remotely during October 2023–September 2024, including hybrid and fully remote work.[25]

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

  • Across U.S. professional and business services, 39% of full-time employees worked fully onsite during January–April 2025.[26]
  • 27% of U.S. full-time employees worked in a hybrid arrangement in 2025, compared with 12% fully remote and 61% fully on-site.[27]
  • 61% of U.S. employees with remote-capable jobs preferred hybrid work in November 2025, compared with 33% preferring fully remote work.[28]
  • Across U.S. professional and business services, 38% of full-time employees worked hybrid schedules during January–April 2025.[26]
  • 54% of U.S. employees with remote-capable jobs worked in a hybrid arrangement in November 2025.[28]

Upskilling in the staffing agency industry

  • 15 staffing firms in the 2019 North America survey offered medical-skills training to workers.[29]
  • 85% of recruiting professionals said talent acquisition and learning-and-development teams should work more closely in the 2024 Future of Recruiting report.[30]
  • 79% of recruiting professionals said talent acquisition and learning-and-development teams should work more closely in 2023.[30]
  • 30 staffing firms in the 2019 North America survey offered information-technology training to workers.[29]
  • 13% of staffing firms gave some workers at least one full day of organized paid training in the 2019 North America survey.[29]

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

  • 34% of U.S. employees were engaged at work in 2022, while 16% were actively disengaged.[28]
  • 32% of U.S. employees were engaged at work in 2024, while 17% were actively disengaged.[28]
  • 33% of U.S. employees were engaged at work in 2023, while 16% were actively disengaged.[28]
  • 32% of U.S. employees were engaged at work in 2025, while 17% were actively disengaged.[28]

DEI in the staffing agency industry

  • 77 cents was the amount women in the staffing industry earned for every dollar earned by men, according to ClearlyRated research cited by ASA.[31]
  • 68% of internal staffing employees identified as white in the 2025 ClearlyRated survey.[20]

08 Statistics

Customer & Sales

Buyers report mismatch risk and technology friction, including 44% experiencing candidate placements that did not match expectations in 2024. Clients also report expectations management: 96% said firms set realistic expectations.

Customer experience in the staffing agency industry

  • 44% of staffing buyers experienced candidate placements that did not match their expectations in 2024.[32]
  • 57% of staffing clients said their firm consistently delivered high-quality, error-free work in 2024.[21]
  • 96% of staffing clients said their firm set realistic expectations about the open positions it handled in 2024.[21]
  • 36% of staffing buyers reported unexpected turnover of talent placed by their firm in 2024.[32]
  • 23% of staffing buyers reported issues with their staffing firm’s technology in 2024.[32]

Customer retention in the staffing agency industry

  • 70% was the median repeat-business revenue share for professional staffing firms in the 2018 survey.[29]
  • 75% was the median repeat-business revenue share among staffing firms with revenue of $11 million to $100 million in 2018.[29]
  • 75% was the median repeat-business revenue share for commercial staffing firms in the 2018 survey.[29]
  • 70% was the median repeat-business revenue share among staffing firms with revenue above $100 million in 2018.[29]
  • 65% was the median repeat-business revenue share among staffing firms with annual revenue of $10 million or less in 2018.[29]

Customer acquisition in the staffing agency industry

  • 32% of staffing buyers reported intermediate-to-advanced AI adoption in hiring processes in 2024.[32]
  • 48% of staffing buyers looked for evidence of industry specialization online in 2024.[32]
  • 52% of staffing buyers looked for firm expertise online when evaluating potential staffing providers in 2024.[32]
  • 93% of staffing buyers who began with a day-one list ultimately selected a firm from that list in 2024.[32]
  • 50% of staffing buyers looked for satisfaction ratings from existing clients online in 2024.[32]

Customer loyalty in the staffing agency industry

  • 1.45 assignments per candidate were averaged by job-board travel nurses during 2024–2025.[1]
  • 78% longer median tenure was recorded for referred light-industrial candidates than for job-board candidates during 2024–2025.[1]
  • 50% longer median tenure was recorded for referred travel-nursing candidates than for job-board candidates during 2024–2025.[1]
  • 82% longer median tenure was recorded for referred healthcare candidates than for job-board candidates during 2024–2025.[1]
  • 1.84 assignments per candidate were averaged by referred light-industrial workers during 2024–2025.[1]

Lead generation in the staffing agency industry

  • 74% of staffing buyers wanted AI to improve the speed of candidate delivery from staffing firms in 2024.[32]
  • 65% of staffing buyers began their staffing-firm search with a preselected list in 2024.[32]
  • 58% of staffing buyers first used online sources when assessing potential firms in 2024.[32]
  • 52% of staffing buyers searched online for staffing-firm expertise when evaluating firms in 2024.[32]
  • 50% of staffing buyers searched online for existing-client satisfaction ratings when evaluating firms in 2024.[32]

09 Statistics

Marketing & Brand

Acquisition and budget continuity dominate 2026 marketing priorities: 54% named client acquisition as a top priority. AI use for content generation and data analysis both reach 77% among recruitment agency marketers.

Marketing in the staffing agency industry

  • 54% of both recruitment agency marketers and leadership teams selected client acquisition as a top priority in 2026.[33]
  • 54% of recruitment agency marketers expected their marketing budget to grow or remain flat over the following 12 months in 2026.[33]
  • Only 15% of recruitment agency marketers listed the same three priorities as their leadership team in 2026.[33]
  • 77% of recruitment agency marketers said peer learning would help their AI skills in 2026.[33]
  • 46% of recruitment agency marketers said market conditions improved versus the prior year in 2026, while 31% said conditions worsened.[33]

Digital marketing in the staffing agency industry

  • 25% of staffing agencies used an outside vendor to manage the job board on their website in 2024.[34]
  • 77% of recruitment agency marketers used AI for content generation in 2026.[33]
  • 77% of recruitment agency marketers used AI for data analysis and insight in 2026.[33]
  • 18% of staffing agencies used a client portal to manage client relationships in 2024.[34]
  • 8% of staffing agencies used a talent management network to find candidates in 2024.[34]

Branding in the staffing agency industry

  • 73% of staffing agencies included increasing marketing and branding efforts in their success strategy in 2024.[34]
  • 30% of staffing agencies included diversity and inclusion initiatives in their success strategy in 2024.[34]
  • 23% of staffing agency placements or starts came from referrals on average in 2024.[34]
  • 50% of staffing agencies included market segmentation in their success strategy in 2024.[34]
  • 33% of staffing agencies included expansion into new industry verticals in their success strategy in 2024.[34]

Social media in the staffing agency industry

  • 55% of North American staffing firms used social media primarily for recruiting in 2019.[29]
  • 31.60% was the decrease in employee social-content sharing across the staffing and recruitment sector between March and August 2026.[35]
  • 51% of North American staffing firms used Facebook primarily for recruiting in 2019.[29]
  • 54% of North American staffing firms tracked follower numbers as a social-media metric in 2019.[29]
  • 37.78% of employees at global staffing and recruitment organization gpac shared company content on social media in August 2026.[35]

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

  • 74% of B2B influencers use artificial-intelligence tools to enhance content creation, based on Q1 2026 research.[36]
  • 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.[36]
  • 44% of B2B influencer-marketing practitioners say finding the right talent is their single biggest collaboration obstacle, based on Q1 2026 research.[36]
  • 78% of B2B influencer-marketing practitioners identify brand awareness and lead generation as their joint top challenges, based on Q1 2026 research.[36]

10 Statistics

Operations & Execution

Automation and AI map to productivity and placement outcomes. In 2025, time-to-place fell below 20 days for firms that used automation and AI, according to the survey result.

Process optimization in the staffing agency industry

  • 37% of contracting agencies and 53% of fast-growth agencies had automated assessment and skill testing in 2024.[34]
  • 69% of contracting agencies and 68% of fast-growth agencies had automated background checks in 2024.[34]
  • 22% of contracting agencies and 42% of fast-growth agencies had automated candidate qualification in 2024.[34]
  • 45% of staffing agencies using AI in 2025 applied it to resume parsing or database cleanup.[1]
  • 61% of staffing agencies used artificial intelligence in 2025, up from 48% in 2024, according to a staffing-industry benchmarking survey.[1]

Operational efficiency in the staffing agency industry

  • Automation and AI made staffing firms nearly 90% more likely to record time to place below 20 days in the 2025 industry survey.[2]
  • 34.25% of staffing agencies in 2026 measured recruiter performance primarily through placements and revenue.[37]
  • One in three U.S. staffing agencies operated below a 20% gross margin in 2025.[1]
  • 34.38% of agency respondents in 2026 identified reduced administrative work as AI’s biggest operational benefit.[37]
  • Recruiter call time doubled between the first quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2026 in an American Staffing Association productivity analysis.[31]

Quality management in the staffing agency industry

  • 61% was the 2024 fill rate for office, clerical and administrative staffing agencies.[34]
  • 43% was the 2024 fill rate for healthcare staffing agencies.[34]
  • 8.0 days was the 2022 average time to fill for travel-nursing staffing agencies.[1]
  • 39.0 days was the 2022 average time to fill for legal staffing agencies.[1]
  • 31% of staffing agencies in 2025 identified quality of hire as their leading metric for measuring talent-source return on investment.[1]

Supply chain in the staffing agency industry

  • 2.1% was APAC’s agency-work penetration rate in 2024, compared with 2.0% in Europe.[38]
  • 3.7% was Ireland’s agency-work penetration rate in 2024.[38]
  • 3.3% was the Netherlands’ agency-work penetration rate in 2024.[38]
  • 8.1% was the year-on-year increase in agency-worker hours in Canada in the second quarter of 2026.[38]
  • 23% of temporary agency workers globally were offered permanent contracts in 2024.[38]

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

  • 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.[39]
  • 65% of U.S. CPA firms participating in the 2025 National MAP Survey that offshored used India, followed by 33% using the Philippines.[39]
  • 47.5% of EU enterprises sourcing abroad sourced administrative and management functions 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]
  • 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

Back-office cost structures show in gross margin compression metrics for 2026 back-office analysis: 23.2% faced compression. Pricing examples include 51.5% markup from $17 hourly pay to $25.76 bill rate in 2026.

Pricing strategy in the staffing agency industry

  • 30% is the markup for professional services and 33% for skilled trades and general labor in Tryfacta’s Sourcewell staffing price list, United States, 2026.[40]
  • 20.6% was Reliability’s Staffing gross margin in the reported 2025 quarter, compared with 19.2% in the same quarter of 2024, United States.[41]
  • 27.1% was Reliability’s quarterly Staffing gross margin in the reported 2026 period, compared with 17.9% in the prior-year quarter, United States.[41]
  • 51.5% was the markup from a $17 hourly worker pay rate to a $25.76 bill rate in an American Staffing Association pricing example, United States, 2026.[42]
  • 23.0% was Reliability’s Staffing Solutions gross margin in 2025, up from 18.7% in 2024, United States.[41]

Cost reduction in the staffing agency industry

  • $126,000 was Reliability’s estimated loaded salary run rate for administrative support in 2026 after cost cuts, United States.[41]
  • 23.2% was the average U.S. staffing gross margin identified by Staffing Hub as facing compression in its 2026 back-office cost analysis.[1]
  • 8.7% was GEE Group’s year-over-year reduction in selling, general and administrative expenses in 2025, United States.[41]
  • 5.5 software platforms per agency was the average reported in Staffing Hub’s analysis of manual back-office operations, United States, 2026.[1]
  • 2.0% was GEE Group’s adjusted EBITDA margin in 2025, down from 3.7% in 2024, United States.[41]

Profitability in the staffing agency industry

  • 25.3% was Reliability’s managed-service staffing gross margin in 2025, United States.[41]
  • 27.9% was Mastech Digital’s total gross margin in 2025, unchanged from 2024 and up from 25.4% in 2023, United States.[43]
  • 14.2% was Reliability’s consolidated gross margin in 2025, compared with 13.3% in 2024, United States.[41]
  • 5.3% was Barrett Business Services’ income-from-operations margin in 2024, United States.[41]
  • 5.7% was Barrett Business Services’ income-from-operations margin in 2023, United States.[41]

Financial planning in the staffing agency industry

  • $4.072 million was Reliability’s Staffing revenue in 2025, up 23.4% from $3.301 million in 2024, United States.[41]
  • $463,000 was the approximate 2025 revenue decline Reliability attributed to a client transitioning personnel to managed staffing, United States.[41]
  • 19.7% was Reliability’s Staffing share of total revenue in 2025, up from 13.8% in 2024, United States.[41]
  • $3.1 million was Kelly Services’ interest income in 2025, attributed to higher average cash held in interest-bearing deposits, United States.[41]
  • $2.617 million was Reliability’s managed-services staffing revenue in 2025, compared with approximately $84,000 in 2023, United States.[41]

12 Statistics

Product & Service

Technology stack maturity varies: 56.16% described stacks as functional but fragmented in 2026. Agencies report AI embedded across workflows at 28.77% for 2026.

Product development in the staffing agency industry

  • 41.10% of agency recruiters worked in full-desk roles in 2026, covering client development through candidate placement.[37]
  • 56.16% of agency recruiters described their technology stack as functional but fragmented in 2026.[37]
  • 28.77% of agencies reported AI already embedded across their workflows in 2026.[37]
  • 20.55% of agencies were experimenting with a few AI use cases in 2026 while evaluating where the technology adds value.[37]
  • 28.77% of recruitment agencies reported a well-integrated and easy-to-manage technology stack in 2026.[37]

Product lifecycle in the staffing agency industry

  • 12.7 million temporary and contract employees were hired by U.S. staffing companies in 2023.[31]
  • 66% of staffing survey respondents said candidates were demanding more from recruiters in 2025.[12]
  • 414% was the turnover rate for U.S. temporary and contract employees in 2023.[20]
  • 91% of candidates who used staffing-firm reskilling or upskilling programs said they would continue working with their recruitment firm in 2025.[2]
  • 40% of candidates who stopped working with a recruiter in 2026 said the process did not move quickly enough.[2]

After-sales in the staffing agency industry

  • 30 was the staffing-placed-talent Net Promoter Score in 2024, following an increase from 18.5 averaged across 2020–2022.[44]
  • 88% of candidates who used staffing-firm reskilling programs said they would keep working with their recruiter in 2024.[2]
  • 57% of staffing candidates reported receiving recruiter communication at least weekly in 2024.[2]
  • 46% of U.S. job seekers surveyed in March 2026 said they had been ghosted by a staffing firm.[44]
  • 78% of U.S. job seekers in 2026 said one instance of staffing-firm ghosting would make them hesitate to use that firm again.[44]

Value proposition in the staffing agency industry

  • 38% of healthcare candidates used staffing firms as their go-to job-search resource in 2024.[2]
  • Nearly 70% of candidates expected staffing firms to find and recommend appropriate job postings in 2024.[2]
  • 68% of staffing leaders ranked client acquisition and revenue growth as their top organizational priority for 2025.[12]
  • 69% of candidates in the latest GRID report had encountered AI deployed by their staffing firm for prescreening or interviewing.[2]
  • 53% of candidates chose their current staffing firm because of a positive personal experience or ratings and reviews in 2024.[2]

13 Statistics

Sustainability & Ethics

Placements through private agencies reached 61 million people in 2024. ManpowerGroup reported a 9% year-over-year reduction in direct Scope 1 and 2 emissions in 2024.

Sustainability in the staffing agency industry

  • 61 million people were placed in jobs by private employment agencies globally in 2024.[38]
  • 1,400 people secured employment or self-employment through Randstad green-skills initiatives in 2024.[45]
  • 37,000 refugees and 215,000 migrants received employment support from Randstad across 15 countries in 2024.[45]
  • 570,000 people received career-management support from staffing companies globally in 2024.[38]

ESG in the staffing agency industry

  • 9% was ManpowerGroup’s year-over-year reduction in direct Scope 1 and 2 emissions in 2024.[46]
  • 301,000 associates were enrolled in ManpowerGroup’s MyPath employability and upskilling program by 2025.[46]
  • 400,000 people gained digital-skills development opportunities through ManpowerGroup client partnerships by 2025.[46]
  • 13,000 MWh was the approximate renewable electricity procurement by ManpowerGroup in France and the United States in 2024.[46]
  • 100 electric vehicles were added and 200 gasoline vehicles removed from ManpowerGroup’s fleet in 2024.[46]

Ethics in the staffing agency industry

  • 60,400+ hours of ethics, cybersecurity, privacy and conduct training were completed by ManpowerGroup employees.[47]
  • 16 times was ManpowerGroup recognized as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by 2025.[46]
  • 11 years was ManpowerGroup’s recognition period as a World’s Most Ethical Company in the cited sustainability disclosure.[47]
  • 20+ countries gave ManpowerGroup Platinum, Gold or Silver EcoVadis ratings, including its global operations.[47]
  • 12 years was ManpowerGroup’s inclusion period in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index in the cited disclosure.[47]

CSR in the staffing agency industry

  • 81% of respondents identified limited budgets as a barrier to achieving corporate impact goals in 2024.[48]
  • 56% of surveyed companies said they were not providing sufficient staffing and resources for environmental and social impact goals in 2024.[48]
  • 77% of respondents reported expansion or creation of new sustainability or impact programs in 2024.[48]
  • 5,900+ Randstad employees contributed nearly 30,800 volunteer hours to local initiatives in 2024.[45]
  • 78% of respondents reported increased demand for sustainability information, reports or presentations in 2024.[48]

Circular economy in the staffing agency industry

  • 96% of carbon emissions were reduced by Aquent after it abandoned physical premises and became a virtual workplace.[49]
  • 30% is the minimum recycled-content share of TrueBlue’s paper products, which are also FSC certified.[50]

Carbon footprint in the staffing agency industry

  • 11% was ManpowerGroup’s reduction in Category 1 and 2 emissions in 2024.[47]
  • 28% of ManpowerGroup’s Scope 3 emissions came from employee commuting and homeworking in the cited reporting year.[47]
  • 13% of ManpowerGroup’s Scope 3 emissions came from business travel in the cited reporting year.[47]
  • 20% was the reduction from 2019 to 2024 shown in RGF Staffing’s group-level emissions trajectory graphic.[51]
  • 2027 is the target year for RGF Staffing Netherlands to transition its corporate fleet to electric vehicles.[52]

15 Statistics

Globalization & Expansion

Europe’s penetration remains near 2.0% agency-work share of employment in 2024, while China reported 22.6 million people placed through agencies in 2024. Online job postings grew 179% year over year in Asia in Q1 2026.

Globalization in the staffing agency industry

  • 4.2% was the global decline in private employment-agency industry revenue in 2024.[38]
  • 179% was the year-on-year growth in online agency-work job postings in Asia in the first quarter of 2026.[38]
  • 22.6 million people were placed through agencies in China in 2024, the largest national total reported.[38]
  • 1.82% of employed people aged 15 and over globally were agency workers in 2024.[38]
  • 2.0% was the agency-work penetration rate in Europe in 2024.[38]

Cultural adaptation in the staffing agency industry

  • 3.7% was Ireland’s agency-work penetration rate among employed people aged 15 and over in 2024.[38]
  • 2.8% was Japan’s agency-work penetration rate among employed people aged 15 and over in 2024.[38]
  • 23% of agency workers globally were aged over 45 in 2024.[38]
  • 23% of temporary agency workers were offered permanent contracts globally in 2024.[38]
  • 2.9% was China’s agency-work penetration rate among employed people aged 15 and over in 2024.[38]

Supplier management in the staffing agency industry

  • 7.0% of reported VMS users used Workday VNDLY in 2024.[34]
  • 60% of VMS contracts in 2024 came from programs spending under $10 million, according to Staffing Industry Analysts data cited by Simple.[1]
  • 29.8% of reported VMS users used SAP Fieldglass in 2024.[34]
  • 24% of staffing agencies using a VMS said the software integrated with internal ATS or back-office systems in 2024.[34]
  • 78% of VMS contracts in 2024 involved first-time adopters, according to Staffing Industry Analysts data cited by Simple.[1]

Stakeholder management in the staffing agency industry

  • 45 was the staffing-industry client Net Promoter Score in 2024.[1]
  • 68% of hourly workers said pay amount was a top factor when choosing where to work in 2025.[1]
  • 570,000 people received career-management support from staffing-industry providers worldwide in 2024.[38]
  • 29% of hourly workers said they were likely to stay with their current employer or agency for the next year in 2025.[1]
  • 50% more complete satisfaction was reported by clients of 2026 Best of Staffing award winners compared with the staffing-industry average.[1]

Distribution channels in the staffing agency industry

  • 83% of staffing agencies reported using AI or automation in recruiting in the 2026 benchmark.[64]
  • 76% of staffing agencies expected job-board prices to increase over the following 12 months in the 2026 benchmark.[64]
  • 23% was the average share of staffing-agency placements generated by direct outreach in the 2026 benchmark.[64]
  • 16.4% was the average share of staffing-agency placements generated through ATS or CRM matching in the 2026 benchmark.[64]
  • 57% of staffing agencies planned to expand ATS or CRM rediscovery in 2026.[64]

Key questions about the staffing agency industry

What is the staffing-agency and recruitment market size?
The global recruitment market generated $220 billion in net fees in 2024. The figure is based on data cited by Hays from Staffing Industry Analysts.
How fast is the recruitment market expected to grow?
Hays reported the global recruitment market should grow by about 8% annually over the five years following 2024, reaching approximately $320 billion. The forecast covers recruitment net fees and excludes candidates hired directly by in-house HR teams.
Which companies lead the staffing agency industry?
Aya Healthcare leads Gitnux's 2026 staffing agency ranking with an Overall score of 9.4, with largest healthcare staffing firm described on SIA’s 2023 fastest-growing staffing list. The Adecco Group is the highest-ranked workforce services at 9.0, with temporary staffing, permanent placement, and workforce solutions in 60 countries and territories.
What technology shifts are most visible in staffing operations?
In 2025, 44% of staffing agencies using AI had implemented generative AI, and 45% used resume-parsing or database-cleanup AI. In 2026, 69% of candidates had encountered AI used for prescreening or interviewing.
How concentrated is the staffing and recruitment market structure?
Hays reported only about a 0.5% share for Hays in the global recruitment market in 2024. The 21-country concentration for professional recruitment accounted for 95% of the market in 2024.
What is driving demand for staffing services?
Demand is supported by labor shortages and employer use of flexible workforces, plus the need to fill healthcare, technology and other specialized roles. Staffing demand remains cyclical and sensitive to economic uncertainty.
Reference

Cite This Report

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APA
Samuel Norberg. (2026, November 10). Staffing Agency Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/staffing-agency-industry-statistics
MLA
Samuel Norberg. "Staffing Agency Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 10 Nov 2026, https://gitnux.org/staffing-agency-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Samuel Norberg. 2026. "Staffing Agency Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/staffing-agency-industry-statistics.

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