Are job orders going up or down? And what does it take to fill them? Each month, Bullhorn tracks key indicators from our proprietary data to reveal changes in the global hiring landscape. Check in at the start of every month for the latest trends in permanent and contract hiring.
Month ending 31 March 2026 Last updated 7 April 2026
Permanent job volumes up 9% from 2025
Contract job activity bounced back in March, but did not quite regain the high-point set in January to start the year. Overall, pipeline is up 5.3% compared to March of 2025 and has been steadily trending up for the last few years. Contract fill rate jumped 13.4% this month, on par with what is typically seen in March. Fill rate has also shown a largely positive trend since 2022. And recruiter effort in the contract space declined this month, but has remained stable on average for the past six months, and may actually reflect larger than anticipated pipeline increases. All of these are positive signs that the temporary staffing market is gaining momentum.
After starting the year down compared to 2025, permanent job orders saw a big increase in March, up 9.1% compared to 2025 and the highest level since early 2024. Permanent fill rates continue to accelerate, albeit at a slower rate than contract rates. Recruiter effort crept up this month, likely reflecting the need to keep up with increased pipeline. It is too early to say if this represents a lasting stabilisation, but the signals this month are positive for permanent staffing.
Contract job activity recovers in March
Contract fill rate up 13% in March
Recruiter effort rising for permanent staffing
Methodology
Hiring outlook metrics were calculated from Bullhorn ATS data for customers that have opted in to share aggregated data. Customers were qualified as professional or commercial if the majority of their placements were within these industries. Temporary/contingent placements are those with a set end date; permanent/direct hire placements are those without.
Jobs orders per recruiter is calculated as the volume of job order records created divided by the unique number of users within the calendar month.
Job fill rate is calculated as the proportion of job order records that were placed within 90 days of their open date. This is a trailing indicator that covers jobs created three calendar months prior to the period.
Submissions per job order is calculated as the volume of client submissions divided by the volume of job orders in the period. This metric represents records created in the previous calendar month.
