The American Staffing Association, a voice of the U.S. staffing, recruiting, and workforce solutions industry has released its full-year 2020 data. Following the near-record highs posted in 2019, the data show how the coronavirus pandemic challenged providers of workforce solutions. It reports that temporary and contract staffing jobs falling to Great Recession levels in the second quarter yet rebounding in the second half of the year. Staffing employment saw a decline of 33.6%. That’s more than one million jobs, year-to-year, in the second quarter of 2020, as the nation was shut down by the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, the nation started to rebound. It saw average weekly staffing employment increasing from 2.1 million in the second quarter to 2.3 million in the third quarter (+14.4%). It further rose to 2.8 million in the fourth quarter (+18.8%). Temporary and contract staffing sales followed similar patterns.
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Throughout 2020, U.S. staffing companies employed an average of 2.5 million temporary and contract workers per week, down 19.5% year-to-year; while annual staffing employment sales totaled $122.3 billion, 10.5% less than in 2019.
Despite the pandemic, staffing companies hired a total of 13.6 million temporary and contract employees during all of 2020, with an average length of employment with a staffing agency at 9.6 weeks.
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“While the pandemic took its toll on the economy in 2020, many staffing companies are reporting continued increases in demand for temporary and contract workers in the first quarter of 2021,” said Richard Wahlquist, ASA president, and chief executive officer. “Workplace disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has put an even higher premium on the need for more flexible and inclusive workforce solutions.”
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