Recruiting firms report healthy hiring plans for 2015, according to Bullhorn’s annual North American Staffing and Recruiting Trends Report, “Revving the Engine,” released today. Bullhorn Inc., a Boston-based staffing software provider, based the report on a survey of agency recruiting professionals.

The report found 74% of respondents’ firms plan to increase headcount in the coming year, down slightly from 75% who planned on growth in 2014 and a more significant drop from 82% who planned to add staff in 2013. Plans differed by agency size, with 65% of small firms planning an increase compared to 86% of firms with 11 employees or more.

The 2015 report found 77% of respondents met or exceeded their revenue goals in 2014, equaling 2013’s rate of success. And 89% expect a revenue increase in 2015, a slight increase from 88% in last year’s survey.

The overall rate of revenue growth was flat from 2013 to 2014, according to the report. However, where metrics didn’t remain static, they usually improved on last year’s performance. The percentage of firms that experienced placement growth grew significantly, as did the overall industry fill rate and hit rate.

Other findings include:

• 79% of respondents said that more than half of their revenue comes from repeat client business, a 7% increase from last year’s study and a solid sign of consistency and success in the industry.
• Among respondents surveyed, 77% said that their total placements grew, a significant improvement from 71% last year.
• Permanent jobs are filling faster. On average, it took staffing firms specializing in permanent jobs 23 days to fill a position, down from 32 days in 2013. Industries such as energy and healthcare contributed to this improvement, with permanent jobs in these fields taking an average of 23 days and 21 days to fill, respectively, an improvement from 36 and 39 days last year.
• Skilled IT/technical workers are in short supply. Out of all industries studied, IT/technical jobs received the fewest applications, with only 19 per job posting. Sales jobs received the most applications with an average of 33 per posting.

The report is based on a survey of 1,285 agency recruiting professionals. It was conducted in December 2014.