Understanding the Travel Agency Analogy
Picture this: it’s fall 1990 in suburban Illinois and you’re planning your family’s Christmas vacation. You call up your local travel agency - or even walk into their location in town - to inquire about flight and hotel prices. There’s back and forth. Paperwork. Stacks of other people’s reservations on every desk. And in the midst of the chaos, while trying to book a round trip to the sunny Bahamas, you’re handed the Robinson family’s bird watching itinerary in Poland.
You asked for all inclusive recommendations. In the Bahamas.
This - shockingly - is not all too different from how staffing agencies operate in 2025. You call on Thursday asking for reliable workers for a Monday morning shift, and somewhere between the phone transfers, outdated spreadsheets, and mismatched paperwork, you end up reviewing resumes for forklift operators when what you actually needed was general labor. And suddenly you’re transported back to the 1990 staffing agency - face to face with manual processes, miscommunication, and human bottlenecks.
The Reality of the Staffing Industry Today
The temporary staffing industry is worth over $480 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow to $888 billion by 2035, yet it still relies on outdated processes. With over 2 million temporary workers employed weekly in the US and average assignments lasting just 10 weeks, increasing turnover creates constant operational friction. Understanding these dynamics isn’t just a history lesson - it’s a reminder of why staying ahead of trends matters. The facilities that will thrive in 2026 and beyond are the ones that recognize ambiguity as the new normal and build systems that can flex with it rather than clinging to archaic ones.
What it Takes to Thrive in 2026 & Beyond
Today, 83% of staffing buyers prioritize automation, yet many staffing agencies still operate the same way they did decades ago - relying on phone calls, spreadsheets, and manual processes. When you know where the market is heading - toward greater transparency, automation, and real-time labor visibility - you can prepare your teams to operate with confidence instead of chaos. Instead of relying on 1990-style processes dressed up for the present day, you can adopt tools that are built around speed, transparency, and labor intelligence - not paperwork and guesswork.
