Total annual revenue for the 18 ranked firms dropped 7.3% to $673.5 million in 2020.
That follows a 1% decrease in pre-pandemic 2019, no growth in 2018 and a 3% increase in 2017.
Staffing agencies said they placed 23,649 workers last year, a 20% drop from 2019 when it was down 11%.
The number of permanent workers placed also fell 27% to 831; that contrasts with a 52% increase in 2019.
The Business Journal ranked the 18 largest firms that reported at least $10 million in OC billings. They employ 1,108 in Orange County, a 4% decline from 2020.
Staffing agencies are often seen as a bellwether of the job market as companies tap their services to fill posts ranging from administrative to industrial before making permanent hires.
The agencies say their customers are shifting resources to automation, which reduces their need for more employees.
Last year, the pandemic obviously hurt as Orange County’s unemployment levels, which was 2.8% in 2019, soared to 8.8% for the year, including a monthly high of 14.9% in May, according to the state Economic Development Department.
Many industries that the employment agencies traditionally serve took a brunt of the lost jobs last year.
“We’ve seen industries such as retail, hospitality, and aerospace, previously quite resilient, suffer potentially irreparable harm as a result of COVID-19,” Volt Information Sciences Chief Executive and President Linda Perneau said earlier this year. The Orange-based firm, parent company of Volt Workforce Solutions, ranks No. 10 on the list.
On the upside, the need for jobs related to healthcare monitoring and screening, logistics, food manufacturing and distribution have been increasing, Perneau said.
Companywide revenue for the firms on the list totaled $24.5 billion, down 9.1% year-over-year.
Of the ranked agencies, three reported an increase, nine saw revenue decline, one stayed flat and the remaining five were Business Journal estimates.
Highlights
• Hanover, Md.-based Aerotek Inc., which has an office in Orange, claimed the top spot, even though revenue dropped 4.2% to $90.5 million. It has 82 employees in Orange County, up from 75 a year ago.
Fun fact: Aerotek founder Steve Bisciotti owns the Baltimore Ravens.
• The Irvine office of Select Staffing, based in Atlanta, dropped to No. 2 as its revenue fell 15% to $81.9 million.
• No. 4 Roth Staffing Cos. in Orange reported $62 million in revenue, down 13%; that follows a 21% drop in 2019.
• The biggest increase was 35% to $32.6 million from the Santa Ana office of Cincinnati-based StaffMark, which provides employees with expertise in engineering, finance, marketing and skilled trades, among others. It jumped the most places, from No. 14 to No. 8.
• The list saw the return of No. 17 Marquee Staffing of Irvine, where revenue fell 3.3% to $10.4 million, and No. 18 B2B Staffing Services of Lake Forest, where sales dropped 17% to $10 million.
