Per the July 2021 Pulse Survey Report, engineering staffing segment revenues were up a median 5% year over year in June, down from 17% in May. A net 27% of engineering staffing firms reported positive year-over-year revenue growth, compared to 68% in May. In general, most non-healthcare staffing segments were lower than their May revenue figures. However, the engineering segment had the largest deceleration versus the prior month among all staffing segments. While a large part of this is due to the simple fact that yearly comparisons are getting more challenging, there are other factors in engineering staffing that have constrained growth to some extent — and we refer to those in our most recent forecast.

In the US Staffing Industry Forecast: September 2021 Update, we project 14% growth in the engineering segment in 2021, followed by 6% in 2022. Although oil prices have recovered to their pre-pandemic highs, caution among oil and gas companies has limited hiring in related roles. Additionally, the hiring process has been lengthened by a high average time to fill as well as the recent challenge of dealing with large-scale vaccine mandates.

Staffing challenges notwithstanding, a positive trend in natural resources/mining employment can be seen in the September 2021 Jobs Report; there were 644,000 individuals employed in this industry group in the US in August 2021, an increase of 9.3% year over year. In July, natural resources/mining employment was up 7.6% and in June 5.9%. It is worth noting that the current employment figure is still 6.7% lower than it was in February of 2020. However, from a broader perspective, the TechServe Alliance reported that engineering employment rose by 0.41% in August to more than 2.6 million jobs, and was up 3.08% year over year.

The continued path of growth will most certainly be impacted by the trajectory of the pandemic. Given that Covid is still very much a part of the global vocabulary, and that industry dynamics have made long-term strategic planning difficult, many engineering staffing firms are in a wait-and-see mode. But other large companies are seizing the opportunity to take action on the M&A front. After the merger between Airswift and Competentia mentioned in our last Engineering Staffing Report, another big deal was announced in August: Adecco will acquire AKKA Technologies at a value of €2.0 billion (US$2.36 billion), the largest deal in Adecco’s history. In addition to engineering consulting, AKKA’s PDS Tech business provides engineering staffing services, and was ranked 11th on SIA’s Largest Engineering Staffing Firms in the US: 2020 Update.

Our September Pulse Survey will capture August trends in engineering staffing, and the subsequent survey will be in November. To participate and get a report full of charts and statistics showing how the rest of the year plays out across staffing segments, look out for our invitation emails during survey months, or visit our Surveys webpage.