The professional staffing market is showing promising signs, with both contract and permanent hiring activity increasing month-on-month. That’s according to the latest Hiring Trends report from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo).

The trade association’s latest analysis – produced in conjunction with Bullhorn – revealed an encouraging increase in new vacancies added between June and July, up 10% for contract and 8% for permanent positions. Placements also showed a modest uplift month-on-month, up 2% across both permanent and contract.

According to APSCo, while this represents a seasonal increase ahead of the summer slowdown, it is a further promising sign for the professional staffing market which has seen sustained falls in hiring activity this year. This is further backed up by a rise in the number of CV sends between June and July, which were up 13% for contract and 8% for permanent positions.

Samantha Hurley, UK Managing Director at APSCo commented: “While it’s common to see a slight increase in recruitment between June and July, ahead of August’s seasonal blip, this uptick is promising given the tough year that the staffing market has faced so far. There remains a slightly higher demand for contract resources over permanent, which is expected when the economic climate is still uncertain. However, the gap is decreasing, giving us and our members some promising indicators that the tide is starting to turn.”

Andy Ingham, SVP Sales, EMEA & APAC at Bullhorn, added: “July exhibited strong momentum, with most metrics on the up month over month. Only sales are down from June, but are still showing positive trends compared to July ’24. Pipeline continues to grow from the promising foundation last month, paired with a surge of delivery activity in the form of a 13% and 8% monthly boost in CV sends for contract and perm respectively after a slight lull in June. Placements had a modest lift, both up around 2.5%, indicating good client commitment and high throughput on key vacancies, despite June’s delivery slump.”