Orange County’s largest employment agencies collectively had $815 million in local revenue last year, a slight dip that broke a three-year streak of gains.
This week’s Business Journal list features the 23 largest staffing firms with headquarters or significant operations here and ranks them by revenues generated through their Orange County offices. About half are based here, and the rest are regional offices of national or international companies.
The estimated total revenue was down about 1% year-over-year, the first decrease since a 20% drop in 2009. The pace of growth had been slowing, though, with a 12% pickup in 2010, 7% in 2011, and 1% in 2012.
Eight companies on the list reported revenue increases, while three said revenues fell. Figures for 12 firms were based on Business Journal estimates.
Some firms said they don’t typically break down their financial information by region and provided companywide revenue totals, which also are included in this week’s list, along with the number of employees here and job placements.
The listed companies combined to fare slightly better on companywide revenue, which stayed about flat at $66.8 billion compared to a small drop in OC.
The companies currently have a total of 1,082 employees, up 13% year-over-year. The number of temporary jobs they’ve filled with placement increased by 9%, to more than 58,700 for the 12-month span through March.
Select Staffing
• Select Staffing kept the No. 1 spot on the list, with $111.9 million in revenue from its OC operations, up 11% from a year earlier. Companywide revenue grew 5% to $2 billion.
“Much of that growth can be attributed to our clients seeing significant growth in their business as we move further out of the recession,” Senior Vice President Gunnar Gooding said.
Santa Barbara-based Select Staffing has seven offices in OC, including in La Habra, Buena Park and Irvine.
It currently has 52 employees here, down by two from a year ago. They’ve placed 17,568 temporary jobs over the past year or so, up 32% year-over-year.
Select Staffing’s recent growth is “not surprising and is consistent with what we are seeing from our largest competitors across the U.S.,” Gooding said, describing the employment agency industry as a “leading indicator” for the economy. “We see our numbers increase as the economy moves out of recession as companies begin hiring temporary workers to supplement their workforce to meet demands.”
• No. 5, Orange-based Roth Staffing Cos., had a 5% increase in its revenue to $54.8 million. It has hired five employees over the past year, for a total of 110 across 11 offices in the county. Roth Staffing’s companywide revenue increased by 3% to $297.6 million.
• Milwaukee-based Manpower Inc., No. 7, grew revenue by 7% to $48.9 million. It has four offices here, with 22 employees. Its local offices have placed 14,720 temporary jobs over the past 12 months through March, up 31% year-over-year.
Overall, Manpower had $20.3 billion in revenue last year, down about 2%. It’s the second largest staffing firm on the list when considering companywide figures, behind Adecco Employment Services Inc., which had nearly $27 billion in revenue. Switzerland-based Adecco did not disclose its OC numbers for this list.
Mattson
• No. 15, Mattson Resources LLC, had $18.9 million in local revenue last year, a 24% increase year-over-year and the highest percentage gain on the list.
“The growth came from the increase in our business with medical device manufacturers here,” said Gary Spencer, a spokesperson for the Costa Mesa-based firm.
Mattson, founded in 2007 by Spencer’s wife, Linda, who serves as president, provides recruitment services across various sectors, including engineering, information technology, healthcare and finance.
The firm has 41 employees in its sole OC office, up by three from a year ago. It has placed 1,342 temporary jobs in the past year, down about 30%.
Volt
• Among firms that had revenue decreases were Volt Workforce Solutions, which is based in New York and has five offices in Orange County. Volt had $59 million in 2013 revenue, down nearly 10% year-over-year. Its companywide revenue slipped 6% to $1.9 billion.
Volt has 52 employees in OC, down by four. The local offices collectively placed about 3,200 temporary jobs in the past year, down about 21%.
• Irvine-based PTS Staffing Solutions, No. 11, had a 10% decrease in revenue last year, to $30.6 million. It has 16 employees here, unchanged, who have placed 508 temporary jobs in the past year, down about 10%.
• TeamQuest Staffing Services Inc. was the sole newcomer to the list. The Santa Ana-based company grew revenue by nearly 12% to $9.3 million, good for the No. 21 spot.
TeamQuest has eight employees here. They’ve placed 1,540 temporary jobs in the past year, up 10%. Companywide revenue came to $13.7 million, up 4%.
