Dive Brief:
- Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) reports that a pulse survey conducted in October 2016 indicated a median 7% increase in revenues (from last year) for all temporary staffing agencies that participated.
- SIA research associate Sree Thiyagarajan said that "revenue growth in the industrial sector is under pressure," but it's showing "positive news" with stronger-than-average bill rates, increasing job orders, and decreasing difficulty with sales and recruitment efforts.
- 39% of the firms reported an increase in new work orders in October, which is in line with averages over the past 12 months. Industrial staffing firms received the most orders while IT staffing firms experienced a slight drop in work orders during this period.
Dive Insight:
The increase in revenues for the temporary staffing market is good news for the millions of recruitment professionals who work hard to place people into rewarding jobs. Some of this increase is no doubt a result of seasonal peaks in employment as staffing clients started to ramp up hiring, particularly in the industrial sector.
But as October was still early, the next survey results should show added growth. The survey results also showed that the IT market hiring has slowed down slightly, which is surprising given talent shortages. Companies should keep a close eye on the next SIA report to see if temporary staffing agencies can keep up their momentum for the remainder of 2016.
