Global Staffing Industry Trends 2025

Top Global Staffing Markets

US Staffing Industry Trends and Forecast

“If you look at where US GDP was last year, you would have expected there to be stronger staffing growth.”

Despite strong GDP performance, the US staffing industry saw a 10% decline in 2024. John attributes this disconnect to multiple factors, including:

• Labour hoarding
• Alternative work arrangements such as freelance platforms and statement-of-work contracts
• Workforce trends such as ‘the great resignation’
• An overcorrection of the healthcare industry following a boom during the pandemic.

As the largest global staffing market, generating $188.73 billion USD in 2024, John describes the US as a steady, slow-growing market with a compound annual growth rate of 2.5% over the last decade.

Looking ahead to 2025, the US staffing market is forecasted to grow 5% to be worth $198.17 billion USD, contingent on improvements in key sectors like IT and healthcare.

“As long as we do see some improvement in those two segments in particular, then we’ll see the market overall improving.”

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European Staffing Industry Trends and Forecast

“If you operated in Europe, you needed to be in Southern Europe to see signs of positivity.”

European Staffing Market Forecast 2024

While most European markets struggled in 2024, Southern Europe, particularly Italy and Spain, showed resilience, growing by 3% and 8% respectively.

The Nordic region maintained a strong staffing reputation, though Sweden has experienced recent setbacks due to regulatory changes. The UK and Germany remained major players as the two largest recruitment markets in Europe but regressed compared to other emerging markets.

European Staffing Industry Trends and Forecast 2025

SIA’s analysis for 2025 suggests low single-digit growth, with Southern Europe and Scandinavia emerging as preferred staffing markets due to their economic stability and demand for skilled workers.

• The UK is set to remain the largest recruitment market in Europe, growing by 3% to be worth $52.51 billion USD.
• The German staffing market is set to grow marginally by 1% in 2025, to be worth $36.65 billion.
• The staffing market is France is expected to plateau in 2025 and maintain its value of $34.87 billion.
• The Spanish staffing market is set to grow by a further 6% in 2025 to be worth $8.7 billion.
• Moderate growth is expected in the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, and Belgium.

In our full conversation with John on ‘The Global Talk’ podcast, he commented that the highest levels of growth over the last decade have been seen in Southern Europe. Looking forward, the Irish staffing market is demonstrating a lot of positive characteristics.

According to SIA’s data, the staffing market in Ireland grew by 3% in 2024, valued at $5.6 billion. Subsequent growth of 4% and 5% is projected for 2025 and 2026.

“If you started a staffing business 10 years ago, you would have been better to launch it in Spain or Italy than in the UK, Netherlands, or Germany.”

APAC Staffing Industry Trends and Forecast

“The staffing markets that were positive, were all in Asia. Japan was a very good market. That’s a market that is benefiting from a lot of structural growth.”

APAC Staffing Industry Forecast 2024

Asia was the strongest performing region, dominating the global staffing industry in 2024, with Japan, India, and China leading as the largest regional markets.

Staffing Industry Analysts anticipated double-digit growth in 2024 by six countries in this region: India (13%), China (16%), Vietnam (20%), Philippines (14%), Malaysia (12%), and Indonesia (13%).

As the largest staffing market in APAC, Japan has benefited from significant structural growth. In our episode, John pointed to the fact that Japan was a market where it was illegal to provide temporary agency workers until the 1990s, and subsequently is not wholly dependent on GDP for growth.

APAC Staffing Industry Trends and Forecast 2025

Looking ahead to 2025, significant staffing industry growth is expected across many countries in the APAC region. John shared key APAC staffing industry trends and projections from SIA’s research including:

• Similar to 2024, more growth projected from China and India in comparison to Europe.
• The Chinese staffing market is projected to become the second-largest staffing market in APAC, with SIA forecasting a value of $31.61 billion USD.
• Japan is expected to remain Asia’s top staffing market, estimated to be valued at $74.48 billion in 2025.
• Australia is expected to grow by 6% to be valued at $30.79 billion.
• India is projected to grow 12% to be worth $16.58 billion.
• Moderate growth is expected in the staffing markets of Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, and New Zealand.

Digital Nomads Contributing to the Growth of Southeast Asian Countries

South-East Asian countries that have become popular for digital nomads are witnessing substantial growth forecasts in 2024 and 2025. The staffing market in Vietnam is expecting 20% growth in 2024 according to SIA forecasts John shared.

This monumental growth is set to sustain in 2025 with 19% projected growth, making it one of the fastest-growing staffing markets in the world. Similarly, the Philippines is anticipated to grow by 14% in 2024 and 16% in 2025.

Furthermore, in SIA’s annual Most Attractive Staffing Markets Globally report, they tipped Indonesia as the most attractive market for recruitment agencies. This report assesses 75 markets to determine the strengths, challenges, and relative attractiveness for staffing firms operating in each.

Indonesia came out on top due to its projected growth in its staffing industry and economy, its favourable permanent employee protection, and its levels of competition.

Key Staffing Industry Trends Impacting the Global Staffing Landscape in 2025

1. The ‘Lazy W’ Economic Recovery and the Effects on Staffing Industry Trends

“We saw a strong decline, a surprisingly strong recovery, another downturn, and now we’re hoping for another lift-off.”

The global economic recovery over the last few years has been anything but straightforward. The team at SIA has been speculating what shape the trajectory of the economy would take.

Instead of a ‘V-shaped’ rebound, which is typically a much sharper drop and a sharp growth, the economy has endured what John has labelled a ‘Lazy W’ recovery, characterised by a period of growth followed by an unexpected downturn.

Looking ahead to 2025, the rate of recovery will have an impact on just how lazy the ‘W’ recovery will be.

“The big question is, how lazy is this W going to be? We’re still waiting for clear signs of market improvement.”

This pattern underscores the importance of agility in staffing. Recruitment firms that can pivot quickly, adapting to fluctuations in hiring demand and wage inflation will be better positioned for success.

2. AI Legislation and the Growing Impact on Staffing Industry Trends

“Staffing firms must ensure AI-enhanced hiring tools are transparent and non-discriminatory.”

Artificial intelligence is reshaping staffing, from candidate sourcing to compliance monitoring. As general adoption increases from generative AI, John commented in our full conversation, that many recruitment agencies are utilising agentic AI.

Agentic AI is a type of artificial intelligence that can perform tasks with little human intervention. Agentic AI systems are designed to be goal-oriented and can take autonomous actions to achieve those goals by learning and adapting based on new information.

However, increasing AI regulations present new challenges for recruitment agencies.
The EU AI Act was passed in 2024 to promote responsible AI development and deployment in the EU. This is the first comprehensive regulation on AI by a major regulator anywhere. The Act assigns applications of AI to three risk categories:

• Applications and systems that create an unacceptable risk, such as government-run social scoring of the type used in China, are banned.
• High-risk applications, such as a CV-scanning tool that ranks job applicants, are subject to specific legal requirements.
• Applications not explicitly banned or listed as high-risk are largely left unregulated.

Subsequently, The EU AI Act categorises recruitment as a high-risk area, imposing stricter compliance. Firms must carefully vet their AI tools to avoid penalties. John indicates that independent algorithm audits are becoming a best practice in the industry to assess these products.
The US and China are expected to introduce AI-specific employment regulations in 2025. Some states in the US already have regulation in place to deal with non-compliance. For example, California imposes a penalty of $5,000 per violation per day for violations of its state AI Act.

3. The Rise of Outsourced Solutions

“Given where the market is and employer preferences, there is demand for those sorts of solutions.”

Recent trends indicate that staffing firms are increasingly embracing consultancy-based and statement-of-work (SOW) contracts, particularly in the IT sector. John suggested that this pivot is in response to consulting firms stepping into the staffing space.

In a recent survey conducted by SIA, investigating the acquisition preferences of 220 staffing firms, 44% of respondents selected IT solutions/SOW as the top acquisition preference.

Why the shift?

• Attractive gross margin profile
• Need for increased differentiation
• Large and growing addressable market

For a full breakdown of some of the significant staffing industry trends of 2025, we recommend checking out the Staffing Trends 2025 research carried out by Staffing Industry Analysts.

Navigating Staffing Industry Trends in 2025

“The staffing industry is evolving rapidly. Firms that stay agile and proactive will emerge stronger in 2025.”

As 2025 unfolds, the staffing industry faces both opportunities and challenges:

• The US market is recovering, but at a moderate pace.
• Europe will see modest improvements, with Southern Europe seeing the most growth.
• Asia continues to dominate, with China, India, and Indonesia leading the way in growth.
• AI regulations and outsourcing trends will reshape the staffing industry.

To stay ahead, staffing firms must embrace flexibility, leverage technology responsibly, and adapt to regulatory changes. One way in which staffing and recruitment firms can diversify their risk is by expanding into new markets, leaving themselves less vulnerable to isolated economic performance and local legislation.

If you’re looking to tap into the biggest and emerging staffing markets, Workwell Global’s experts are here to guide you.

Book a call today to gain in-depth insights into staffing industry trends, growth projections, and the strategic moves that can set your recruitment firm up for success in 2025. Speak to our experts and start planning your next steps!

Disclaimer: The information provided here does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal or accountancy advice. Instead, the information and content available are for general informational purposes only.