What are big recruitment companies doing?

How are the big recruitment companies dealing with the market slowdown?

• What are their results?
• What are they doing to combat the decline?
• What strategies do they have for the future?

Here is some empirical data that gives you an insight into these questions.

Based on the earnings reports of six of the largest recruitment companies in the world, we can glean what’s happening to their results and what they are doing to fix things.

(The company data used here is from Page Group, Kelly Services, Randstad, Manpower, Korn Ferry and Robert Half)

The complete eBook created by Recruiterflow, containing all the results and data, is here. It includes full details on revenues by quarter and operating expenses over time.

I have chosen to examine Gross Profit, which combines permanent placement fees and temporary and contract net fee income.
Apart from a blip in Q2 2024, GP has declined steeply.

What are these big companies doing to arrest this decline? Here are some highlights

Service mix: Companies have expanded their services to reduce dependence on cyclical, volume-based hiring requirements

The Rise of Temp & Contract Hiring: Permanent staffing has slowed, but Temp and Contract have primarily held up, and recruiters have increased investment in this sector.

Geographical diversification: with a focus on Asia-Pacific (APAC), the Middle East (particularly the UAE), and Latin America became an obvious move for most companies.

Artificial Intelligence: Much hype. Some adoption. Despite all the buzz, few recruitment companies are actively deploying AI strategically. However, companies like Randstad, Korn Ferry, and ManpowerGroup actively invest in AI.

As the recruitment industry stands at the edge of structural change, 2025 won’t be defined by rapid recovery, but by thoughtful reinvention. Profitability is under pressure, permanent hiring is evolving, and agility is the new currency.

Get the Recruiterflow “Recruitment Industry. Macro Pulse Report”, HERE

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