Why This Page Cites Only ASA and SIA Directly
Search "staffing industry statistics" and most of what surfaces is a secondary blog restating numbers that ultimately trace back to one of two primary sources: the American Staffing Association (ASA) and Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA). Neither of the vendor pages reviewed in our wider research on this category cites ASA or SIA directly on their own sites; their "staffing industry is struggling" framing is generally asserted, not sourced. This page cites both primary bodies directly, with the exact figure and the exact page it came from.
How to Read the Market Size Numbers
Market size and headcount are two different measurements. The dollar figures below describe total industry sales, staffing firms' revenue from placing and billing workers. The headcount figures describe how many people are actually working temporary and contract assignments in a given period. Both matter, but they move for different reasons: sales can shift with bill rates and mix even when headcount holds steady, and vice versa.
The Numbers
US staffing industry peak: $243.9 billion in 2022.
Pre-pandemic US staffing market size: $185.5 billion.
SIA's March 2026 forecast: $180.2 billion in 2026 (1% growth), $183.0 billion in 2027.
Staffing Industry Analysts, US staffing industry forecast, March 2026 update
SIA's 10-year outlook: only 10% cumulative growth forecast through 2030.
Roughly 27,000 staffing and recruiting companies operate in the US, across roughly 54,000 offices.
57% of staffing companies and 76% of offices serve the temporary and contract sector specifically.
An average of 2.2 million temporary and contract employees worked in a typical week during 2024.
12.7 million temporary and contract employees were hired across all of 2023.
Staffing employment represents roughly 2% of the total US nonfarm workforce.
Staffing employee profile: 73% work full time, 64% cite filling employment gaps as their motivation, and 40% hold higher-skilled positions.
Sources
The external data in this article draws on the sources below. Figures described in the text as estimates or industry triangulations are directional and are not attributed to a single dataset.
- Staffing Industry Analysts, US staffing industry forecast, March 2026 update
- American Staffing Association, staffing industry statistics
- QX Global Group, US staffing market size and forecast