Welcome to this week’s StaffingHub Brief, your strategic intelligence roundup for staffing agency leaders. In this week’s issue:
- US staffing hours rose 2% year over year for the week ended April 18, the first period of sustained growth since September 2022.
- Three-quarters of employers say candidates are now using AI in the job search, but only 18% use AI broadly across their own hiring process.
- Amazon launched an agentic AI product that interviews, scores, and evaluates candidates around the clock.
- A new bill would ban staffing firms from employing H-1B workers entirely and pause new visas for three years.
- Nine out of 10 companies missed their 2025 hiring goals, with interview scheduling consuming 38% of recruiter time.
The first sustained staffing growth since September 2022
US staffing hours rose 2.5% sequentially and 2% year over year for the week ended April 18, according to the SIA | Bullhorn Staffing Indicator. Commercial staffing climbed 4% year over year, and industrial staffing rose 6%. The Indicator marks this as the first period of sustained year-over-year growth since September 2022. (Learn more)
Robert Half reported Q1 2026 revenues of $1.3 billion, down 4% year over year, but tallied its second consecutive quarter of positive sequential growth in talent solutions. Technology staffing grew 0.8% globally, the only segment to turn positive year over year. CEO M. Keith Waddell noted that revenue trends strengthened through the quarter and into early April. (Learn more)
Why it matters: After nearly three years of contraction, staffing volume is growing again. If your pipeline and capacity aren’t ready to scale, this window will close before you can use it.
Candidates are running ahead of employers on AI
Nearly three-quarters of employers (74%) report that candidates are now using AI in their job search, but only 18% of companies use AI broadly across their hiring process, according to new research from iCIMS and Aptitude Research, based on a survey of more than 400 U.S. talent acquisition leaders. Screening is the most widely adopted use case at 58%, followed by candidate communication at 54%. Meanwhile, 58% of talent acquisition leaders say they can’t clearly distinguish between AI and automation, and 45% have no formal AI governance framework in place. (Learn more)
Amazon entered this space this week with Amazon Connect Talent, an agentic AI product that conducts voice interviews, administers assessments, and scores candidates 24 hours a day, from any device. The product is in preview mode. SIA executive director of global research John Nurthen put the stakes plainly: “It will not take long for these digitalized services to move from a novelty to a commodity.” (Learn more)
Why it matters: When Amazon turns agentic screening into an enterprise product, it resets what clients expect from their hiring partners. Staffing firms that can match that speed on candidate evaluation keep the client relationship. Those that can’t will get cut out of the sourcing conversation.
Companies say people will drive AI success, but their investment decisions don’t back that up
Most employers (88%) say AI will require their workforce to develop new skills, but only 18% report that most employees have participated in any AI reskilling or upskilling over the past year, according to Aon’s inaugural Human Capital Trends Study. Eight in 10 organizations cite automating routine tasks as their primary AI goal. Only 35% name workforce upskilling. 84% of employers say human strengths will grow more important as automation increases. (Learn more)
Workers see the same gap from the other side: 83% of job seekers say companies should formally train employees on AI rather than leaving them to learn on their own, a view shared by 86% of hiring managers, according to an Express Employment Professionals-Harris Poll survey. Among companies already using AI, 89% of hiring managers say their organization’s dependence on AI tools has grown over the past year. (Learn more)
Why it matters: Clients are buying AI tools faster than they’re building the workforce capacity to use them. Staffing firms that can supply AI-literate talent are walking into a gap that most buyers have already publicly admitted they have.
A new bill would close the H-1B program to staffing firms entirely
The End H-1B Visa Abuse Act of 2026, introduced by Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ), would prohibit staffing firms from employing H-1B visa holders, pause new issuances for three years, slash the annual cap from 65,000 to 25,000, and require a minimum salary of $200,000 per year for H-1B workers. The bill builds on a $100,000 fee President Trump has already imposed on H-1B visas used by temporary foreign workers. (Learn more)
Why it matters: The bill hasn’t passed, but where this pressure is heading is clear. If your firm places H-1B workers in tech or healthcare, model that exposure now and brief your clients before the questions start coming in.
Hiring failed in 2025, and the calendar was the biggest culprit
Nine out of 10 companies missed their hiring goals in 2025, and one in three missed by a wide margin, according to GoodTime’s 2026 Hiring Insights Report, which surveyed 504 senior talent acquisition leaders. Talent teams spent 38% of their time on interview scheduling, the single largest operational burden in the process. The most common bottlenecks were scheduling delays, limited interviewer availability, cancellations, and hiring manager conflicts. (Learn more)
Why it matters: Nine out of 10 employers failed to hit hiring goals last year, and the biggest drag was internal scheduling friction, not candidate supply. Staffing firms that solve that operational problem have a specific, data-backed pitch.
The StaffingHub Brief provides weekly insights for staffing agency leaders and publishes every Friday. Want to get essential staffing industry news delivered to your inbox? Sign up for our weekly and daily newsletters.
