In this week’s StaffingHub Brief, we’re covering:
- Staffing hours rose to year-to-date highs following Labor Day, executive confidence is the strongest it’s been since the pandemic, and median agency revenue reached its highest point since late 2022.
- Q3’s M&A highlights include Korn Ferry closing its $1.1B AMS acquisition, Kelly consolidating three brands into a unified data center play, and Circle8 getting an October 7 deadline to give SThree a firm offer.
- Nearly half of companies are generating AI value, while trust on both sides of the hiring relationship is breaking down in ways that sharpen the agency pitch.
Staffing hours, confidence, and median revenue are all at multi-year highs
Private sector employment added 90,000 jobs in September, with manufacturing up 17,000 and education and health services leading all sectors at 55,000. Professional and business services lost 11,000. Pay for job-changers grew 4.8% in base pay and 7.3% in gross pay year-over-year, so there are still rewards for movement. (Learn more)
The SIA | Bullhorn Staffing Indicator reached new year-to-date heights through the week ended September 19, with the overall index at 103 and staffing hours up 10% year-over-year. Industrial is the standout at +15% YoY, driven by manufacturing and data center demand. IT is up 6%. Office and clerical continues to fall at -8% YoY with no reversal in sight. (Learn more)
The SIA Staffing Confidence Index was at 128.0 in September, well above its 113.2 post-pandemic average and reaching levels not seen since the pandemic. Half of firms reported increased new orders, and 60% expect more increases over the next six months. The SIA August Pulse Survey, covering 128 firms, reported median agency revenue at 5% year-over-year growth, its highest point since late 2022, with engineering up 10% and industrial up 8%. (Learn more)
Korn Ferry closes AMS, Kelly goes all-in on data centers, and Circle8 has until October 7 to bid on SThree
Korn Ferry officially closed its $1.1B acquisition of AMS on September 1, bringing $650M in run-rate fee revenue, more than $1.5B in contracted revenue, and operations across 120+ countries. The deal puts Korn Ferry in credible competition with Randstad and ManpowerGroup at the enterprise talent services level. Overall, Q3’s M&A activity shows buyers are paying for locked-in contracts, global reach, and delivery infrastructure, instead of just access to candidates. (Learn more)
Kelly consolidated Kelly Telecom, NextGen | GTA, and Motion Telco into Kelly Digital Infrastructure to target the $4B data center staffing market, which is projected to grow 15 to 20% annually through 2030. Critical data center roles command premiums up to 74% above national benchmarks, and more than half of data center operators cite headcount as their primary deployment bottleneck. Kelly’s pitch is full-lifecycle staffing, from design through operations, for clients who want one partner instead of a vendor roster. (Learn more)
SThree’s board unanimously rejected Circle8’s unsolicited approach as “well short” of the company’s value, and Circle8 must announce a firm offer or walk away by October 7 under UK takeover rules. SThree carries a market cap of roughly £336M. The outcome will serve as an early indicator of current demand for transatlantic M&A. (Learn more)
Nearly half of companies are seeing AI’s payoff, while fake applicants affect 1 in 4 employers
Nearly half of companies are now generating meaningful AI value, up from just 5% in 2025, according to the BCG Applied AI Index. AI spending nearly doubled as a share of revenue in less than a year, from 1.7% to 3.3%, and more than 80% of that spending now sits outside enterprise IT budgets. Now that they’ve proven AI’s worth, organizations must ensure they can govern it as they scale. (Learn more)
A new iHire survey found that 23.6% of employers received at least one fake or fraudulent applicant in the past year, while 39.3% of job seekers say ghost or fake listings are their biggest obstacle in the job search. This has a significant impact on hiring time, with 43% of managers reporting their time-to-fill is longer than it was two years ago, and 21% of open roles closing without a hire. When neither side trusts what it’s getting, agencies that fill roles quickly with quality, verified candidates will have a stronger pitch. (Learn more)
