Top 30 recruitment firms in Australia?

Australian readers and my blog subscribers from around the world alike will be surprised (and interested, I hope) to know that Australia is the sixth-largest staffing market in the world. (Staffing Industry Analysts)

I was intrigued when I first learned that stat, because Australia is very much at odds with the other five countries in the top six

For your information, those countries, as measured by employer spend on staffing agencies, are:

1) US
2) Japan
3) United Kingdom
4) Germany
5) France
6) And then, Australia

SIA estimates that the Australian staffing industry generated AUD 45 billion (USD 29 billion) of revenue in 2024, making it the sixth-largest market globally.

I consider Australia an anomaly when you consider the respective populations of those six countries, which ChatGPT tell me are;

1) USA: 335 million
2) Japan: 124 million
3) United Kingdom: 68 million
4) Germany 84 million
5) France 65 million
6) Australia 27 million

So, Australia must be a very mature and saturated market to be in the same group as countries with very much larger populations and, therefore, economies.

For Australia, as with many staffing markets, recent years have been challenging and unpredictable. However, gradual growth is expected in 2026 as the market normalises.

UK-based Hays is the largest staffing firm in Australia, generating over AUD 2.2 billion (USD 1.5 billion) in revenue in 2024. Although their Australian staffing revenue decreased by 27% year-on-year in 2024, the business has reportedly remained stable through the first six months of 2025, an indication that the market is improving

The ten largest staffing firms account for almost a third (29%) of the Australian staffing market, making it relatively fragmented.

Australia’s 30 largest staffing firms generated AUD 17.6 billion (USD 11.6 billion) in 2024, accounting for 39% of the market.

The market has a significant international presence, with only 40% of the 30 largest firms headquartered in Australia. The largest is PeopleIN, which places fifth overall. Meanwhile, six companies have headquarters in the UK, and four each are from Japan and the US. The Netherlands is the headquarters for two companies, while the last two are from South Africa and Switzerland.

As Ross Clennet pointed out in his recent blog on this same report, “Unexplained omissions from the ranking are prominent industry brands such as ANZUK Education, Davidson Group, CGH Group, Ambition, Sharp & Carter and people2people” . As a founder and Board member of people2people, I can confirm that combined group revenues would most definitely place the company toward the lower end of this list. However, each state business of people2people is a different corporate entity (Even though it has one universal majority shareholder), so perhaps it is not considered “one company” for the purpose of this list.

All this data is taken from the “Largest Staffing Firms in Australia. 2025” report published by Staffing Industry Analysts.

The full report, which has much more data, can be found and purchased here

The author is named as Eoghan Doherty

I am taking a blogging break over the summer – you know, beach, cricket, Christmas.

Thank you for reading The Savage Truth

I wish you a happy, peaceful holiday season and wish you the best for a wonderful new year.

See you in 2026!

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