In any given week, 2.4 million temporary and contract employees work for America’s staffing companies (2024).
During the course of 2024, America’s staffing companies hired 11.2 million temporary and contract employees
Temporary and contract staffing employees work in a broad array of jobs, from industrial laborer to chief executive. And their individual characteristics, as well as how they view their work, vary just as widely as their occupational distribution.
Temporary assignments support those new in town or changing careers.
Temporary and seasonal work provide training and a foot in the door at attractive employers.
- Most staffing employees (73%) work full time, comparable to the overall workforce (75%).
- Six in 10 staffing employees (64%) work in the industry to fill in the gap between jobs or to help them land a job.
- One in five (20%) cite schedule flexibility as a reason for choosing temporary/contract work.
Staffing employees work in virtually all occupations in all sectors
- 36% Industrial-Warehousing
- 24% Office-Clerical & Administrative
- 21% Professional-Managerial
- 11% Engineering, Information Technology, and Scientific
- 8% Health Care
In the Industrial-Warehousing and Office-Clerical & Administrative staffing sectors, the average duration of an assignment is 14-15 weeks (3+ months).
40% of staffing employees work in higher-skilled occupations.
Clients seeking staffing services encounter unique hiring difficulties
Common pain points include:
- Limited access to qualified candidates
- High employee turnover rates
- Inefficient hiring processes
Staffing companies offer a wide range of employment-related services to client organizations
- Temporary and contract staffing
- Recruiting and permanent placement
- Outsourcing and outplacement
- Human resource consulting
On behalf of these client organizations, the staffing industry provides about 2% of the U.S. nonfarm workforce.
SOURCE: American Staffing Industry