The global direct-hire market generated $28.1 billion in revenue in 2017 and accounted for 6.2% of the staffing market, according to Staffing Industry Analysts’ new report on the largest direct-hire firms globally.

The Americas region ranked as the largest region in the direct-hire space in 2017 with $12.7 billion in sales and 45% of the market; the US alone represented 42% of global direct-hire sales. The Asia Pacific and EMEA regions accounted for 29% and 26% of 2017 global sales in direct hire, respectively.

“The research found the direct-hire market is highly fragmented, with the top five firms generating just 9% of revenues in 2017 and the top 20 generating 15%, or $4.3 billion,” said David Papapostolou, senior research analyst at SIA and author of the report. “The largest share of the market is held by small, local recruiting businesses, for which direct hire is a significant source of income.”

The report ranks the 20 largest providers of direct-hire services, based on revenue generated in 2017. PageGroup ranked at the top of the list, followed by Adecco and ManpowerGroup.

The report defines direct hire — or permanent placement — as a service provided by a staffing agency related to helping, for a fee, an organization obtain an employee to work on their payroll as opposed to a temporary staffing relationship where the employee is typically working on the staffing firm’s payroll. This report excludes any revenue from executive search, which is normally conducted on a retained-fee basis.

SIA corporate members can download the full report online.