U.S. staffing companies employed an average of 2.8 million temporary and contract workers per week in the first quarter of 2020, according to data released by the American Staffing Association—falling below three million for the first time in six years amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Staffing employment decreased 8.9% in the first quarter of 2020 compared with the same period in 2019—the largest year-to-year decline seen in the past decade.
“While the decrease in staffing employment has been significant during the pandemic, agencies continue to provide personnel across all essential occupations necessary to ensuring continuity of functions critical to public health, safety, and well-being,” said Richard Wahlquist, ASA president and chief executive officer. “As businesses begin to reopen, job seekers can look to the industry for increasing access to immediate employment.”
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Temporary and contract staffing sales totaled $32.1 billion in the first quarter of 2020, down 2.4% from the same quarter in 2019. Staffing companies expect their second-quarter revenue to drop 20% and to end the year with a decline to -10%, year-to-year.
On a quarter-to-quarter basis, employment and sales typically peak in the fourth quarter, decline in the first quarter, and grow in subsequent quarters. That seasonal pattern held and was likely exacerbated by the early stages of the pandemic in the U.S., with staffing jobs contracting by 12.0% from the fourth quarter of 2019 to the first quarter of 2020 and sales deteriorating 9.3%.
The American Staffing Association is the voice of the U.S. staffing, recruiting, and workforce solutions industry. ASA and its state affiliates advance the interests of the industry across all sectors through advocacy, research, education, and the promotion of high standards of legal, ethical, and professional practices.
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