Healthcare staffing is in the midst of a transformative transition. The record growth that agencies reported at the height of the pandemic has fully receded, with most markets reporting contraction or stabilization in 2025. Meanwhile, burnout continues to plague providers and clinicians while agencies leverage technology in a bid to get an edge in an increasingly competitive environment that necessitates diversification and upleveling of offerings beyond pure staff augmentation. The stats below tell a story, and we’ve compiled them to help you better plan for 2026. To discuss these stats and what they mean for your healthcare staffing agency, contact our team.
Healthcare Staffing Industry Performance
Healthcare staffing, like the staffing industry at large, experienced a pullback in 2025, with most sectors stabilizing or contracting after years of growth. The good news: forecast models predict growth in the long run. The one outlier to an otherwise dispiriting trend is locum tenens, which grew in 2025 and is projected to continue to grow for the foreseeable future.
- SIA reports a 3% contraction for the U.S. staffing industry in 2025, followed by 10% growth between 2025 and 2030: Source: Global Staffing Market Estimates & Forecasts 2025-2030 Update
- Every healthcare staffing market besides locum tenens contracted or stabilized in 2025. Source: U.S. Healthcare Staffing Market Growth Assessment 2025
- The travel nurse market contracted to $15.8 billion in 2025, from $18.0 billion in 2024 (-12%).
- Travel nursing is projected to grow 3% in 2026 to $16.3 billion.
- Per diem nursing is expected to finish 2025 at $5.2 billion, nearly identical to its $5.1 billion performance in 2024.
- The per diem nurse market is projected to grow 3% in 2026 to $5.3 billion.
- Allied health contracted to $9.9 billion in 2025, from $10.7 billion in 2024 (-7%).
- Allied health is projected to grow 1% in 2026 to $10.0 billion.
- The U.S. locum tenens market reached $9.6 billion in 2025, up from $9.1 billion in 2025.
- Locum tenens is projected to reach $9.8 billion in 2026.
General Staffing Industry Stats
Despite being one of the largest and most complex segments in staffing, healthcare staffing still only makes up 8% of an enormous industry. Like in healthcare staffing, temporary and contract talent in adjacent segments are largely driven by flexibility or the potential of eventual permanent work.
- U.S. staffing companies had nearly 2.5 million temporary and contract employees working in an average week and 12.7 million over the course of the year. Source: American Staffing Association Industry Statistics
- 73% of talent turning to staffing agencies work full time and 64% use agency assignments to bridge the gap between jobs or land a permanent role.
- 20% of temporary workers cite schedule flexibility as their reason for choosing temp/contract work.
- 8% of temporary talent works in healthcare roles.
- There are around 27,000 staffing and recruiting companies in the U.S., operating close to 54,000 offices.
Locum Tenens
While most healthcare staffing markets are experiencing some stagnation following record growth during the pandemic and its direct aftermath, locum tenens continues its strong upward trajectory. This is largely driven by an increased demand for highly specialized physician talent as well an uptick in physicians who find the flexibility of locum tenens work appealing – or, conversely, seek an alternative to the administrative burdens inherent within the American healthcare system.
- Locum tenens growth in driven by a sustained increased demand for physician services and advanced practice providers (APPs) like NPs and PAs. Source: SIA Locum Tenens Market Growth Assessment
- Nurse practitioners are the fastest-growing occupation of any industry in the united states, with a projected growth of 35 percent from 2024 to 2034. Source: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook
- 56,000 physicians now work locum tenens. Most locum tenens providers cite lifestyle choices as a major factor. Source: CHG 2025 State of Locum Tenens Report
- Healthcare organizations reported that locum tenens utilization was 25% higher than they anticipated going into the year.
- 67% of organizations use locum tenens as a solution for backfills, but one-third (35%) also cite using locum tenens to meet rising demand.
Healthcare Provider and Clinician Engagement
While the healthcare staffing industry (and the rest of the world) rely on providers and clinicians, most reporting since the pandemic shows troubling findings about their quality of life. Years after the height of the pandemic, the majority of providers cite issues with burnout, engagement, and understaffing.
- Just 18% of physicians report being highly engaged in their workplaces. Source: CHG 2025 Physician Sentiment Survey
- 1 out of 10 physicians said they were not likely to stay with their current healthcare organization for at least 12 months.
- Physicians are 82.3% more likely to experience burnout than other occupations. Source: Stanford Medicine
- 84% of clinicians face understaffing challenges equal to or worse than last year.
- 66% of clinicians are considering leaving healthcare entirely.
- The U.S. will face a shortage of 86,000 physicians by 2036. Source: Association of American Medical Colleges
Operational Trends and Challenges for Healthcare agencies
Resisting years of characterization as technology-resistant, healthcare staffing firms are increasingly embracing technology in 2026. Despite an increased adoption of platform models and AI, most firms still report sales and recruiting as more difficult than ever.
- Approximately 20% of temporary healthcare staffing revenue now flows through platform models. Travel nursing leads all markets at 34%. Source: Temporary Staffing Platform Update 2025
- Staffing firms expect 40% of today’s manual process to be replaced by AI within the next 3 years. Source: North American Healthcare Staffing Technology Landscape 2025
- Healthcare staffing firms cite sales as slightly more difficult (3.55 out of 5) than recruiting difficulty (3.27/5), but cite both as challenges.
Healthcare staffing has unique challenges that the RefAssured platform is purpose-built to address. Let’s talk about it.