Inc. magazine is out with its annual list of the 5,000 fastest growing private companies in the U.S. This year, 199 self-described human resource companies made the list, many, if not most of them recruiting and staffing firms.
The largest staffing firm is Elwood Staffing with $763 million in revenue last year. The company places temps in several areas from administrative and clerical positions to the skilled trades. It’s direct placement division — Elwood Professional – conducts searches for mid-level professionals on up to CEOs.
At the other end of the revenue scale, is Katalyst Group, with 2013 revenue of $2 million. This executive search firm is headed by Wendy Doulton. She specializes in placing senior level people in digital media, entertainment, online, mobile and related technologies.
You may know Doulton better as “The Headhuntress,” star of an anticipated reality series about the recruiting industry. A single hour-long episode aired on Bravo in 2011, but the series never materialized.
In addition to the staffing and search firms, the list includes PEOs, HR tech firms such as HireVue and Jobvite, and HR services firms like giant Trinet, which, with $1.6 billion in revenue last year, is about twice the size of the next largest firm. G&A Partners, a PEO.
Other HR software vendors also appear on the Inc. 5000 list, but under different categories. Bullhorn and GreenJobInterview, for instance, placed themselves in the software category. At least one staffing firm, Rooster Park, also categorized itself that way. As a consequence, the Inc. 5000 list has more human resources businesses than the category contains.
Firms have to apply and pay a fee in order to be considered for inclusion on the list. Financial information must be provided and is reviewed by Inc.’s staff.
To download a list of all the human resource firms that made the list, including their rank, growth rate, and 2013 revenue, click here. Click image to expand to full size.