How many temporary staffing firms are there in the U.S.?

The answer we used to give to that question was 9,500.
 
That was based largely on a relatively definitive, though also tardy, estimate, which came from the U.S. Economic Census.  In 2002, that infrequent though comprehensive survey put the number of ongoing temporary staffing firms at 9,124.  We adjusted that number upward to compensate for some mis-categorization of which we were aware (e.g., IT temporary firms are sometimes categorized as consulting), and got 9,500.

That was probably a good guess in 2002.  The 2007 Economic Census data is only now dribbling out results (yes, it takes several years to be processed!), and the Census Bureau plans to rush out the latest, 2007, estimate of the number of staffing firms around the end of 2010.

Meanwhile, however, they have released information on the number of branches, which rose 12% from 2002 to 2007.  Assuming a parallel increase in the number of firms (not too far a stretch as the vast majority of temp staffing firms are one office), that would imply roughly 10,600 temporary staffing firms in 2007.

Of course, the years subsequent to 2007 were not all that kind to the industry, and many firms went under in 2009 in particular.  How many?  Well, according to our survey estimates, 13% of firms made at least one acquisition in 2009, which implies probably at least 20% or so of firms acquired.

So, to finish this back of the envelope calculation, assuming the tepid 2008 was roughly flat for the number of staffing firms, then the industry would have still been around 10,600 firms in that year; assuming 20% of those were subsequently acquired in 2009 would get you a current ballpark estimate of 8,500--probably the lowest number since the 1990s.