• Executive searches started worldwide in Q1 2008 increased 9 percent quarterly, and 1.4 percent yearly.  The number of executive searches started in the financial services sector decreased 7.2 percent year-on-year and remained flat quarter-on-quarter.  The technology sector also witnessed an annual fall in searches, down 5.1 percent from Q1 2007.  The industrial sector experienced the most significant year-on-year rise in searches, increasing 10.1 percent from Q1 2007.
• The largest industry market share, usually held by financial services, was dominated by the Industrial sector with a 24 percent share for Q1 2008.  The financial services sector dropped to second place with a 22 percent market share.  The remaining industry shares were consistent with previous quarterly results: Consumer Products (18%), Technology (15%), Life Sciences/Healthcare (11.5%), Non-Profit (6%), and Professional Services (3%).
• On a regional level, North America experienced a 3.2 percent annual decrease in searches with all remaining regions seeing a yearly rise, the greatest being Asia/Pacific (+8.5%), followed by Central/South America (+6.3%), and Europe (+3.4%).  European searches rose 3.4 percent year-on-year in quarter 1 2008 and 11.3 percent quarter-on-quarter.
• In Q1 2008 North America accounted for 41.1 percent of executive searches started globally, followed by Europe (36%), Asia/Pacific (15.8%), and Central/South America (7.1%).  The yearly change saw North America's market share decrease by 2 percent from Q1 2007 to quarter 1 2008.
• Despite the decline in the number of financial services searches, industry-wide net revenues were up 13.2 percent year-on-year in Q1 2008.  Also witnessing a yearly increase in Q1 2008 were the average revenue per executive search consultant (+5.5%) and the average fee per assignment (+15.5%).

• The Staffing industry (including temporary / contract labor) generated $91.0 billion USD in sales in 2007.
  • This compares to $90.4 billion in 2006, $81.9 billion in 2005 and $74.1 billion in 2004.
• The total Permanent (Retained and Contingent) search component of the Staffing industry generated $17.5 billion USD in sales in 2007.
  • This compares to $12.4 billion in 2006, $10.6 billion in 2005 and $9.1 billion in 2004.
• The Contingency search component of the Staffing industry generated $10.2 billion USD in sales in 2007.
  • This compares to $6.7 billion in 2006, $5.4 billion in 2005 and $4.5 billion in 2004.
• The Retained search component of the Staffing industry generated $7.3 billion USD in sales in 2007.
  • This compares to $5.7 in 2006, $5.2 billion in 2005 and $4.6 billion in 2004.
• Overall sales for the total Staffing industry increased 34.1% between 2002 and 2007.

• Niche sites controlled about 64% of the online job-search market in 2007, up from 39% in 2005, according to Gordon Borrell, chief executive officer of consultancy Borrell Associates.
• In the past six months, visits to Monster, HotJobs, and CareerBuilder dropped by 23.7%, 18.4%, and 7.1%, respectively, according to Hitwise.