Thank you to everyone that responded to the August 2026 Business Barometer Benchmarking Survey. Select results are being shared on our social channels as well.
A total of 146 responses were received, a response rate of 27%. Roughly 53% of responses came from North America; we would love to see a more balanced representation of responses globally. Of those, 72% focus on both clients and candidates; 12% just on clients and 16% just on candidates. If you are outside North America, please consider participating in the next Business Barometer (February 2027); we would love for this survey to be an accurate snapshot of global recruitment activity.
Comparing the previous 180 days to the same time a year ago, results are mixed, with one-third of members in each category: better, worse, the same.
Looking at the last 90 days compared to owner expectations, 57% of respondents said business was in line with or above expectations, while 43% indicated it was below expectations. This is a change from earlier in the year when 60% of respondents said business was in line with or above expectations.
Optimism has slowed somewhat, with only 53% percent expecting positive results in the next 90 days, compared with 60% in February. Eighty percent reported that fees over the past 180 days were in line with or above the previous year.
Members report equal amounts of difficulty finding both candidates and jobs.
Manufacturing / supply chain was the strongest reported vertical (34%) over the last 180 days followed by accounting / finance (27%), and "Other" (26%). The technology sector continues to show mixed results, with 23% of members indicating it as a strong vertical and 14% reporting it as weak. Roughly 38% of respondents reported no weak verticals within their business.
Nearly half of respondents (49%) reported that NPAworldwide activity accounts for zero to below five percent of their business, while it accounts for 5-15% of business for 25% of respondents. Over the next six months, 55% expect to see an increase in split activity and 43% expect no change.
Some comments of note from respondents:
- Accountants, especially CPAs, will continue to be in high demand due to national shortage of college students majoring in accounting.
- The jobs are out there. Internal company staffs have reduced the number of easy-to-fill roles.
- Candidates are a little harder to find in my niche. I find that hiring managers are taking more time.
- We are seeing harder-to-fill roles so the time-to-fill has stretched out to 2-4 months for several of our openings.
- Fees are getting competitive and we are having to manage costs in a more prudent manner to keep profitability going. Mandates are getting hard to secure and one has to show real value to the client. Hiring remains strong at least for now.
- Jobs have more requirements, so there are fewer available candidates. Immigration policies have caused havoc with engineering and scientific openings for visas. Tariffs have caused problems for manufacturers.
- The trend is for companies to take longer and longer to decide on an offer for a candidate, resulting in an increase in the loss of candidates during the process.
- Germany is currently facing an extended economic slowdown. Although the fundamental drivers are similar to those seen in previous crises, the unusually long duration of the downturn sets it apart and necessitates a sustained, strategic response from businesses and policymakers alike.
- Clients are finally working out that if they could not recruit well themselves before AI, then AI can't really help them.
- The expansion of Global Capability Centres (GCGs) in India is creating strong opportunities for us, particularly for senior and specialised hiring. As more global companies build teams in India, our local talent access and international recruitment experience position us well to support these mandates.
- This is the new normal. Companies are not likely to grow linearly. Will need lesser but more pertinent professionals. The recruiters with strong relationships & domain knowledge who use AI will thrive.