Hours worked for both US professional and commercial occupations have been holding roughly stable in recent weeks, according to the latest SIA | Bullhorn Staffing Indicator released today for the week ended May 15.

Hours worked in US commercial staffing rose 23% year over year, although they were down 8% compared to the same week two years ago.

Professional staffing hours rose 40% year over year and were up 25% compared to two years ago. Growth levels were supported by high levels of healthcare staffing related to the pandemic. In addition, portions of IT staffing were up by double digits compared to both one and two years ago.

“The staffing industry may still be experiencing some of the headwinds discussed by analysts regarding the May Jobs Report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which came in lower than expected,” according to the indicator report. “These headwinds include concerns about safety in the workplace, child care obligations, and unemployment benefits that are reducing the supply of available workers.”

Still, the report says these headwinds will likely decrease as Covid cases fall and 22 states plan to discontinue extra unemployment benefits over the next few months.

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 that has been benchmarked against data from the week ended Jan. 19, 2019.

The indexed value was 101 in the week ended May 15, following readings of 101 in each of the prior two weeks.

Index values for the week ended May 15, by type of staffing:

• Professional staffing: 125, following readings of 123 in each of the prior two weeks.
• Commercial staffing: 89, up from readings of 90 in each of the prior two weeks.

Readings for the most-recent four weeks are subject to revision.

The full report on the SIA | Bullhorn Staffing Indicator can be downloaded. See here for more information.