To be successful, contingent workforce programs must have at their back high-quality suppliers. One way to measure a staffing firm is by its growth trajectory. The 2018 list of Fastest-Growing US Staffing Firms [1] comprises 94 companies that have posted solid growth over a five-year period.
Together, the companies on the list had a median compound average growth rate in revenue of 26.9% between 2013 and 2017. For the 10 fastest-growing, the median CAGR was 97.8%.
When looking at above-average growth in staffing — and what it takes for companies to achieve that — it comes down to people. It’s about prioritizing people, creating a great culture, building up leadership and hiring the right internal staff in the first place.
That leads to taking care of contingent workers, keeping internal workers engaged and making clients a high-level priority; it’s these factors and efforts that drive growth, say executives of this year’s fast-growing staffing firms in the United States.
“If you make the nurse working at the hospital your No. 1 priority, and you don’t waiver from that, then you’re going to succeed,” says Rich Smith, VP at Atlas MedStaff, the top-ranked fastest-growing staffing firm on SIA’s 2018 list.
And finding the right internal workers is crucial. “What we look for is potential — it tends not to be about exam grades, degrees or qualifications, it’s much more fundamental than that,” says Steven Talbot, co-founder and CEO of second-ranked GQR. “It’s really about character and having the same core character values as the business — essentially being ambitious and being committed to being the best at what you do.”
This year’s top 10 are:
- Atlas MedStaff
- GQR
- Peak Workforce Solutions LLC
- Stability Healthcare
- Dedicated Nursing Associates (DNA)
- Host Healthcare
- Morson Group
- GrapeTree Medical Staffing LLC
- KPG Healthcare
- OneStaff Medical
Seven of the firms in the top 10 provide healthcare staffing, and almost 42% of firms on the full list cited healthcare staffing as one of their primary segments served. It’s a high-growth segment, although growth cooled a bit as of late. Healthcare staffing revenue rose 7% in 2017, according to SIA research. That was down from 15% in 2016 and 20% in 2015.
IT ranked as the second-most common primary segment for staffing firms on the fastest-growing list.
Read the stories of the top 10 firms and see the rest of the list online [1].