Engineering staffing has been showing upward trends in recent months. Per May’s Pulse Survey Report, engineering/design staffing segment revenue in April was up a median 11% year over year, and up 11% from March. A net 39% of engineering staffing companies saw increasing gross margin trends in the previous three months, a net 29% increasing bill rates, and a net 50% increasing new orders. Furthermore, 72% of engineering staffing firms expected increasing trends in new orders in the following six months.

The net percent of engineering staffing firms reporting positive year-over-year revenue growth jumped to 50% in April, up from a net 24% reporting negative year over year revenue in March. It is worth noting the soft comparisons against April 2020, when companies were getting hit hardest by the pandemic.

The June 2021 US Jobs Report shows that there were 614,000 individuals employed in the natural resource/mining industry in the US in May 2021, an increase of 2.2% year over year. However, for pre-pandemic perspective, the figure is still 17% lower than May of 2019. A flat trend can be seen from March to May of this year.

The TechServe Alliance reported that engineering employment rose by 0.13% in May to more than 2.6 million jobs. This follows a 0.14% increase in April and a 0.29% decrease in March. Year over year, it was up 4.48% in May.

As seen in the SIA | Bullhorn Staffing Indicator for the week ended June 18, temporary staffing hours worked in professional staffing occupations (of which engineering is a component) were up 35% year over year. On a week-over-week sequential basis, professional temporary staffing hours were up 1.3%.

In the US Staffing Industry Forecast: April 2021 Update, we estimate that 2020 engineering staffing revenue decreased by 17%. Contingent on the efficacy of vaccines and updates in travel policies, we project 14% growth in engineering staffing revenues in 2021 and 6% growth in 2022.

As virus cases continue to fall in the US, states reopen and unemployment benefits are reduced, summer growth is indeed expected across staffing segments. With these developments, as well as the persistent rise in oil prices, engineering staffing stands to benefit.