Insights from MSC Info Series 67A: Mid-Year Update 2026 — Medical Staffing Consultants
By Rich Tetley, VP of Training & Support, Medical Staffing Consultants

We just released our Mid-Year Update 2026 (Info Series 67A), which is an update to our healthcare staffing market outlook through 2034. Here’s the takeaway: following three years of shrinking, U.S. healthcare staffing has returned to positive growth, and guess where that growth is happening? Precisely where the narrowly focused, carefully coached agency will see the rewards. This is what you need to know if you’re looking at forming or scaling an agency.

A Contingent Correction, Not a Collapse

While it is simple to view three years of continually falling figures as indicative of a downward-trending market, that was not the case. The demand for healthcare workers continued to rise. What was addressed was an overly active part of the market.

The $44 billion+ travel nursing market ballooned to five times pre-pandemic size in 2022. As hospitals’ bottom lines suffered due to paying outrageous premium rates to attract healthcare workers to staff their facilities, the unsustainable bubble finally began to collapse in 2023, with travel nurse revenue down 30% and then another 37% in 2024, according to Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA). But note that the fundamental need for all healthcare workers has never gone away. The unsustainable levels of travel and per diem nursing finally normalized.

The Trend We Recognized Early

With the collapse of the contingent staffing business, Permanent Placement was not affected since it was not in the bubble. Actually, Direct Hire came back to growth faster than Temporary Staffing, and it is currently growing at a faster pace.

We acted on it. In early 2024, as the correction was taking hold, we at Medical Staffing Consultants began guiding new clients to transition into permanent placement work. By late 2024/early 2025, we had made this our default model of business. As contingent-heavy firms were reducing staff in a desperate bid to get lower bill rates before they collapsed altogether, our clients were placing permanent hire candidates into the very same converted roles in health systems.

2026: Growth Is Back

According to SIA, the U.S. healthcare staffing market bottomed at just $38 billion in 2025 and has returned to growth — reaching $39.0 billion in 2026 and a projected $40.1 billion in 2027, with growth roughly tripling from +1% to +3%. Healthcare is set to grow slightly slower than the overall U.S. staffing market in 2026 (+1% vs. +2.4%) but to outpace it in 2027 (+3% vs. +2.2%) and beyond.

Three of four markets experienced growth in the latest numbers: locum tenens increased 4%, allied health grew 2%, and travel nursing also gained 2% while per diem nursing decreased 7%. The uneven nature of this recovery presents opportunity. The rebound is concentrated in the specialist niches that an agency can own:

  • Locum tenens & advanced practice — the growth engine. With physician shortages across the country and growing numbers of Nurse Practitioners (NPs) and Physician Assistants (PAs) practicing, locum tenens opportunities will continue to fuel the growth of both practices. In fact, nurse practitioners are currently the single fastest-growing occupation in the U.S. economy, growing at greater than 40% (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).
  • Direct hire & permanent placement — the secret to success as companies move from temporary positions to permanent employment.
  • Allied health — steady demand in imaging, rehabilitation, and respiratory.
  • Behavioral health, leadership search, and rural/telehealth coverage — under-served, high-value niches.

Demand That’s Demographic, Not Cyclical

There was a temporary spike in the pandemic, but a lot of the underlying growth in healthcare staffing is structural. Healthcare is currently the #1 source of new jobs in the U.S. economy. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has forecasted that in the 2024-2034 time period, the sector with the fastest growth will be healthcare and social assistance, adding roughly 2 million jobs – by far the most of any sector. This is a sustained growth trend based on an aging population, over a million nurses set to retire by 2030, and persistent shortages of physicians and other clinicians. This is the reason why healthcare staffing is a sustainable business model.

Why Now — and Why With Us

The market correction favors focus, niche specialization, and permanent placement – the very model we train. Only 14 big companies account for half of all placements, which makes the remaining market open for small firms that are agile and specialize in their niches. Joining the market now means entering a strong and expanding market together with a partner that has proven its ability to correctly interpret the trends and position itself on the right side of the curve.

Market correction happened. Growth returned. And the growth happened where we are placing our clients.

The healthcare recruiting and staffing industry is growing. Come grow with us.

 Want the full breakdown? Get the MSC Info Series 67A: Mid-Year Update 2026 for the segment-by-segment data and what it means for your agency — or visit Medical Staffing Consultants   — or call us at 631-598-5529 about launching or scaling in this market.

Sources: Staffing Industry Analysts (US Staffing Industry Forecast, September 2026 Update, and healthcare segment reporting); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Employment Projections 2024–2034); Medical Staffing Consultants, Info Series 67A: Mid-Year Update for 2026 – State of Staffing and Recruiting for 2026. Direct-hire-versus-temporary comparisons reflect total-U.S.-staffing-industry data; market-size estimates vary by firm and are anchored on SIA.