2015 could very well be a record-setting year for the search and staffing industry, contract employers, contingent and retained search alike. We’ve spoken with our collegial competitors. We’ve seen Q3 reports from the big players (Korn Ferry, CT Partners, Heidrick & Struggles), and all reported big increases in assignments, completions and revenue. According to the AESC, revenue from the search industry is increasing. (In 2013, revenue went up but volume went down. Now in 2014, revenue went up and so did volume).

WHY? We can’t speak for all industries, but here’s what we’ve seen and gathered:

Specialized & Progressive Jobs. As the economy grows and businesses flourish, innovation creates the need for new and specialized skill sets. Naturally, these new and progressively-skilled people are still rare, so employers engage search and staffing professionals to help land them. Examples of these progressive jobs over the last decade include Sustainability experts, Demand Planning professionals who specialize in the ‘art’ of forecasting, and in our industry . . . User Experience specialists, Information Architects and Conversion Rate Optimization gurus. What the heck was that a few years ago!?  (Now, with these progressive jobs comes the topic of hybrid roles, but that’s for a whole different blog post).

Continued Economic Improvement. Businesses are growing; revenues are increasing. This allows companies to invest in more hiring.

Increased Urgency. With the emergence of more effective mobile marketing, everyone’s getting a bit more antsy. (It’s that ‘instant gratification’ thing). Consumers want things quickly and buy things instantly. Executive leaders see a competing company beat them to a new digital channel, and they ‘want in’ as well. Thus, specialized org charts are formed – maybe some COEs (Centers of Excellence) – and the phone rings at the recruitment firm.

Healthcare. Some companies have reduced FTEs and hired more contractors partly due to changes in healthcare costs, and some FTEs have cited ‘better healthcare’ as one of the reasons they joined another company. Regardless of how you feel about today’s healthcare and its impact on our society, in the office setting we see departures initiated from employers and employees equally these days, and the topic of healthcare seems to arise in the majority of instances.

Resignations. Unemployment is falling, and it’s becoming more of a job seeker market. Take two common scenarios: Sally has been passively keeping her eyes peeled for new jobs. Two years after a period when it seemed like no one was hiring, she has now found three other local companies hiring for her skillset, and they allow her to work 2 days from home. She’s outta there! Now it’s backfill time, and ASAP still isn’t quick enough. Johnny’s industry is experiencing tremendous growth. He’s now being called by a headhunter every few weeks, and they’ve got fulltime, direct-hire opportunities instead of the common contract gigs in years past. One of them really does put him in a better situation, so he gives his notice. Time to backfill, and it’s urgent. Could be an FTE, could be a contractor – just get someone in there quickly!

One can extract many ‘plugs,’ ‘shout-outs’ or ‘dings’ from this blog post, so I’d like to clarify my main intentional messages.

(1) I’m proud to be in this industry. I’m absolutely passionate about what I do. And I’m happy see that my industry is flourishing and helping shape our economy and the lives of the people we touch. Solidarity, fellow recruiters! Anyone who wants to get into this industry, it’s a blast (big responsibility, but a blast).

(2) The search and staffing industry are booming, and the US economy is gradually improving. So, while we certainly have much to address, here’s to a strong 2015 for all!