US temporary staffing hours worked in the week ending April 3 rose 22% when compared to the same week a year ago, according to the new SIA | Bullhorn Staffing Indicator making its public debut today.

Hours worked in professional staffing (IT, healthcare, finance, etc.) increased 32% compared to the same week a year ago while commercial staffing hours (industrial and office/clerical) were up 18%.

“Not surprisingly, the Indicator suggests that staffing hours worked appear to have found solid footing for both professional and commercial occupations in recent weeks, as the vaccine rollout continues nationwide and business restrictions are being lifted,” according to commentary from SIA.

The SIA | Bullhorn Staffing Indicator measures hours worked. It comprises two sets of analyses: a year-over-year comparison showing how the most recent week compared to the same week 12 months previously and an indexed value which has been benchmarked against data from the week ending Jan. 19, 2019.

“The SIA | Bullhorn Staffing Indicator extends market knowledge with near real-time trends in temporary staffing,” Bullhorn CEO Art Papas said. “We are excited to give the industry a closer understanding of shifts in temporary staffing volume of professional and commercial workers on a week-by-week basis and allow companies a more immediate insight into how the market is trending.”

Plans call for the Indicator to be released on a weekly basis.

“The Indicator is weighted based on a significant sample of the US staffing industry, covering a wide range of occupations, industry verticals and with a geographic footprint spanning the country,” SIA President Barry Asin said. “We are pleased to add real-time performance data in both lower-skilled commercial and professional staffing to our analytical tools through the Indicator, along with projections for what may lie ahead.”

Values

The indexed value for US staffing as a whole was 101 for the week ending April 3. The reading was 83 for the same week a year ago.

Separately, the indexed value for commercial staffing was 91 in the week ended April 3 and the indexed value for professional staffing was 127.

How it works

The Indicator is based on an analysis of aggregated timesheet data regarding temporary workers supplied by staffing firms that work across a wide variety of occupations and industries in the US. Currently, the data reflects approximately 50,000 temporary workers from roughly 300 staffing firms that use Bullhorn’s technology solutions.

The Indicator is also weighted and benchmarked against US Bureau of Labor Statistics data to approximate the composition of the staffing industry by skill.

As a note, readings for the most-recent four weeks are subject to revision.

Anyone can download the full report on the SIA | Bullhorn Staffing Indicator.