The US staffing industry’s robust growth during the past two years is expected to slow this year and pick back up in 2024, according to the “US Staffing Industry Forecast: April 2023 Update” report released Tuesday by Staffing Industry Analysts.

Staffing industry revenue is forecast to contract 3% this year to $211.8 billion, according to the report. This follows increases of 17% in the previous year and robust growth of 33% in 2021.

Headwinds to the industry include higher interest rates, more caution among clients, decreased government spending, geopolitical risk and slower wage increases. Many staffing segments have also reached record levels of temporary workers, making further growth more difficult.

Still, many professional segments are slated to see growth. IT staffing revenue is expected to grow 5% this year, following growth of 16% in 2022.

However, travel nurse revenue is expected to contract 25% this year following lightning-fast growth of 190% in 2021 and 45% in 2022. Other healthcare staffing segments are expected to see growth this year; overall revenue in the segment is forecast to be down 3%.

Healthcare staffing ranks as the largest staffing segment in terms of revenue at $55.7 billion.

Among commercial staffing segments, revenue is expected to contract by 2% in office/clerical and remain flat in industrial.

The entire staffing industry is forecast to return to growth in 2024 with an increase of 2%.

The full report is available to corporate members of Staffing Industry Analysts.