Revenue among 20 publicly traded staffing firms operating in the US declined by a median 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to a report released by SIA; it was the softest quarterly growth since SIA began tracking publicly traded US staffing firms in the second quarter of 2011. Then the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

On the bright side, gross margin expanded by a median 40 basis points at the 20 firms.

The report, “Financial Results of Staffing Companies: March 2020 Update,” said the fourth quarter did not include an impact from Covid-19. However, it included comments on the affect of the virus made by staffing executives during conference calls with financial analysts.

In one conference call on March 12, Volt Information Sciences Inc.’s (NYSEAMERICAN: VOLT) Linda Perneau said the company wasn’t yet experiencing notable business impact but it had established a cross-functional incident response team to track the effect of Covid-19. Perneau is president, CEO and a director at Volt.

Dan Hollenbach, CFO and secretary of BG Staffing Inc. (NYSE: BGSF), said in a conference call that Covid-19’s impact on labor markets will depend on the length of time it disrupts economic activity.

“The effect over the next few months may be reflected in a drop in hours worked and reduced hiring, Hollenbach said in the March 12 call. “However, if the disruption continues longer, then the impacted companies are likely to reduce their workforce, including layoffs, especially those unable to work remotely.”

The full report is available online to corporate members of SIA.