The History of Staffing Agencies

If you’re reading this in real time, it’s January: the month that we look back on the previous year, examine our growth and shortcomings as well as look ahead to make new goals for the next year. In light of that, we are taking a look back at the history of staffing agencies to see where they originated and how far we’ve come!

Looking back to the 1940’s where men vacated their positions across industries to fight in World War Two, the formation of staffing agencies began. Although there is record of private staffing firms that date back as far as the 1800’s, public use and knowledge of staffing agencies isn’t recognized until the war era where many companies had vacancies due to the shortage of men.

When businesses saw that they could get help at a day’s notice for their clerical needs, temporary staffing quickly became a popular way to get help. Moving forward to the 1960’s and early 1970’s the term semi-permanent employee became common use. Now, we recognize these employees as temporary or contract employees, commonly assigned to help with short term projects or covering the leave of a permanent employee.

Staffing agencies have evolved and grown strong in the decades since the 1970s. Present day, there are over 20,000 staffing agencies across the United States, according to the American Staffing Association. Staffing companies have been able to help connect people to jobs in every field from janitorial to legal to engineering and beyond.

If you are looking for your next career move, or looking to add to your team, we’d love to help! With 35 years of experience serving our clients in the Pacific Northwest, we are experts in the staffing field. Please contact us today to get connected to a recruiter in a Branch closest to you.