How do you onboard a contractor?

Before they arrive, arrange for orientation paperwork such as the I-9, W-4, or W-9. You may also want an employee handbook for contract workers, along with any benefits information. Also, set up team introductions, share the company vision, and then begin with specific training on the tasks that are needed.

What is contractor onboarding?

This is the process for temporary employees, contract workers, and freelancers to get acclimated to your company, culture, and priorities. It should cover the tasks they will be working on in addition to access to software, compensation paperwork, and other considerations to help them do their job well.

Is onboarding important for staffing and contract employees?

Onboarding helps improve employee retention . Gallup cites SHRM, the society for human resource management, on the statistic that employee turnover can be as much as 50% in the first 18 months. It’s important for your contract employees to get a glimpse of your culture and priorities so they can be productive while working for your company.

Are staffing agencies worth it?

Staffing agencies are all different. They can specialize in certain placements, such as tech or medical or general office. They can focus on direct placements or short-term projects or some combination of both. They have the potential to save you time and money during the hiring process. It all depends on the agency you use, their past history of success, and if they attract the type of contractors you need.

What are the benefits of staffing agencies?

Staffing agencies provide short-term and seasonal work to lessen the burden of employing full-time workers who may only be needed for a few short months. Staffing agencies also mitigate the risk of making a bad hire, and gives you greater access to talent, allowing you to fill positions faster.

What are the cons of staffing agencies?

When you use a staffing agency, the incoming contract worker may not fit your company culture, and very often, no one has spoken to the candidate before they appear for work. Companies often do not know the full work background of a staffing employee. And because of the short-term nature of staffing, the training may be incomplete.

What questions should I ask when choosing a staffing agency?

Ask about their experience, interview-to-hire ratio, their certifications and their onboarding process. Ask for any referrals or case studies from other clients to judge the staffing agency.

How can you review the staffing agency’s record with previous clients?

If you ask the agency, they will refer you to testimonials on their website—which they have already curated—or put you in touch with a previous client that they know had a fantastic result. This can be helpful, but you may also want to contact those past clients directly. Sites like Glassdoor, TrustRadius, or other review sites, like Best Staffing Agencies , may also help.

Find the Best IT Staffing Agency

There are more than 20,000 staffing agencies in the United States. We've developed a free ranking algorithm to grade staffing agencies on a wide set of factors. You'll find the very best IT staffing agency to help you, and reduce your risk of an unsuccessful hire.

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The Top 11 IT Staffing Agencies in 2024

Though it has been easier to find tech talent in recent years, it could be due to an increase in staffing firms and marketplaces that specialize in locating and developing workers with the most in-demand skills. In fact, the IT staffing industry continues to grow with these firms generating more than $20 billion in annual revenue in recent years.

As an employer seeking out the best IT staffing agency, this is an advantage to you. Most of the recruiters and staffing specialists at these firms have a deep bench of talent to help you find the right, expert talent for your project and company. A staffing agency can take another burden off of your firm: taxes and adding another person to the payroll. Many companies use staffing agencies as a tryout for potential new developers before bringing them on full-time.

Our research team compiled a list of the largest and best IT & Tech staffing firms to help you make the right choice for your talent needs.

Here's our selection of the top IT and Tech staffing agencies:

1. Toptal

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Toptal boasts a wide array of the industry’s elite tech and business talent, but it is unlike many other staffing agencies. Most of their talent work remotely from across the world. Initially conceived as freelance marketplace, Toptal has evolved as a preferred staffing destination for leading Fortune 500 companies to bring in the very best. Toptal began with only tech experts, but, over the years, they expanded their network to include finance experts, designers, and more. Companies are paired with a talent matcher who then finds the best talent for that company, working on hourly, part-time, or full-time contracts.

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YEAR OF FOUNDATION:

2010

CEO:

Taso Du Val

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Served Regions:

Global

2. Robert Half

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Robert Half offers businesses a full spectrum of specialized staffing and consulting solutions. They also help candidates find career opportunities where they can fit and thrive.
The company is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol: RHI) and is a member of the S&P 500 index. It has been recognized nationally for its work.

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YEAR OF FOUNDATION:

1948

CEO:

Harold Messmer Jr

Areas of specialities:

General

Served Regions:

Global

3. Adecco

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Adecco is one of the world’s largest human resource and staffing firms. Adecco connects thousands of professionals with some of the top global employers. Adecco has more than 50 years of experience in staffing and recruitment. Adecco services talent requirements across accounting, marketing, hospitality, customer service, retail, administrative, manufacturing, and other fields.

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YEAR OF FOUNDATION:

1996

CEO:

Alain Dehaze

Areas of specialities:

General

Served Regions:

Global

4. Express Employment Professionals

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Express Employment Professionals is a privately held internationally franchised company with hundreds of franchised locations all over the world. They help companies and candidates find good fits for their staffing and career needs. The firm offers a full range of employment solutions including temporary staffing, evaluation hire, professional search, and human resources for businesses across borders. The team at Express helps its clients meet a wide range of positions including industrial, administrative, professional, and more.

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YEAR OF FOUNDATION:

1983

CEO:

Robert A. Funk

Areas of specialities:

General

Served Regions:

Global

5. Manpower

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With years of experience and a global presence, Manpower is enriching people's lives with meaningful employment and development opportunities. To ensure they serve their clients and candidates in the best way possible, the company has aligned itself with partners that both enhance and expand their offerings, including ones for recent graduates and veterans.

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YEAR OF FOUNDATION:

1948

CEO:

Jonas Prising

Areas of specialities:

General

Served Regions:

Global

6. Aerotek

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Aerotek began as an engineering staffing solution for aerospace and defense industries. These roots are what gave the company its name. Aerotek is ranked as one of the largest staffing firms in the U.S. for engineering and clinical/scientific industries. Staffing Industry Analysts has named Aerotek as one of the largest staffing firms for accounting and financing.

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YEAR OF FOUNDATION:

1983

CEO:

Todd M. Mohr

Areas of specialities:

General

Served Regions:

Global

7. Insight Global

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Insight Global is a premier provider of employment and staffing solutions to several Fortune 1000 customers across the United States and Canada. They provide long-term contracts, short-term contracts, temporary-to-permanent, direct placement, and enhanced staffing services.
Insight Global specializes in placing contract job seekers into information technology, accounting and finance, engineering (non-IT), and government jobs. Since their inception in 2001, they have experienced growth within their industry, rapidly expanding from an Atlanta-based start-up to one of the most successful staffing firms in America.

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YEAR OF FOUNDATION:

2001

CEO:

Bert Bean

Areas of specialities:

General

Served Regions:

Global

8. AppleOne Employment Services

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Part of the ActOne Family of Companies, AppleOne Employment Services has serviced the Federal Government including direct with FEMA. Recently, they formed a new corporation ActOne Government Solutions Inc. to specifically serve the Federal government contracts. AppleOne’s CEO, Janice Bryant Howroyd, was a White House appointee selected by former President Barack Obama.

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YEAR OF FOUNDATION:

1964

CEO:

Janice Bryant Howroyd

Areas of specialities:

General

Served Regions:

U.S.-only

9. Jobspring Partners

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Jobspring Partners offers deep expertise in the highest demand tech skill sets, such as UI/UX, open source, mobile, Microsoft development, data science, AI, DevOps/Infrastructure, and network security. Their high-touch, highly specialized teams, create rich networks and amass in-depth knowledge of localized technology markets; resulting in a truly consultative approach and an exemplary track record of results.
Jobspring Partners for contract, contract-to-hire, and direct hire can be found across the country. They currently have offices in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Charlotte, Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, Orange County, and Toronto.

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YEAR OF FOUNDATION:

1989

CEO:

Beth Gilfeather

Areas of specialities:

Engineering, IT

Served Regions:

U.S.-only

10. Kforce

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Kforce provides excellent results through strategic partnership and knowledge sharing. As a leading staffing services firm specializing in technology, finance, and accounting, Kforce fully engages its network of professionals. They have successfully fulfilled contract jobs and direct hire needs for thousands of employers, including a high number from the Fortune 100.

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YEAR OF FOUNDATION:

1962

CEO:

David Dunkel

Areas of specialities:

Finance, Healthcare, IT

Served Regions:

Global

11. Randstad

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Randstad has earned a reputation for combining innovative HR technology with human insight to power solutions like on-site management, RPO, and outplacement services. They take a personal approach to technology consulting and deliver solutions for the projects and challenges your IT organization is facing.
Randstad provides independent studies of employers and employees and gathers objective workforce data to help you understand the workforce and propel your business.

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YEAR OF FOUNDATION:

1960

CEO:

Jacques van den Broek

Areas of specialities:

General

Served Regions:

Global

IT Staffing Guide

Hiring new talent is a complicated process that can often be costly. It takes hours to prepare job descriptions, read through resumes, conduct interviews, check credentials, and run background checks. According to Glassdoor, on average, employers in the US will spend $4,000 and 24 days to hire a new employee. A bad hire can exacerbate the issue by forcing a company to start the process all over again, potentially more than once.

On top of that, hiring in the IT sector can be especially tricky. The demand for experienced, capable talent in the IT field is growing much faster than people are entering it. There is a very low unemployment rate in the IT field. While that can be a great thing for employees, it causes a massive headache for companies.

This is where IT staffing agencies come in.

What Is IT Staffing?

IT staffing agencies, much like general staffing agencies, support employers during the hiring process. IT staffing companies can bridge the gap between companies and would-be employees. They help relieve the burden of hiring by going ahead of the company and completing a lot of the legwork required for the hiring process.

They can pre screen potential talent, run background checks, and verify candidates’ abilities through testing and checking references. IT recruiting agencies take the information given to them and try to match the position to the best candidate.

Depending on the company’s wishes, IT staffing agencies can hire on a contract, contract to hire, direct hire, or managed services basis. It can also complete most of the hiring process for the company or find quality candidates and allow the company to conduct its own interviews.

What Does An IT Staffing Recruiter Do?

IT staffing recruiters work as the go-between between companies and potential employees. They go beyond just looking at resumes. A quality IT staffing recruiter sits down with candidates and gets to know them to determine the best fit between potential employees and companies.

IT staffing recruiters take the time to talk with companies and figure out what their needs and priorities are and use that information to advise hiring decisions. A quality staffing recruiter will talk about more than just what tasks the job requires, but will also look at culture and other expectations to make sure both the company and the candidate are happy.

Why Should My Company Use An IT Staffing Agency?

If you’ve ever been in charge of onboarding new talent for your organization, you know that it is not a pleasant process. There is a lot of “hurry up and wait” involved, to use an old cliche.

After taking the time to write out your job description and put it out there on as many job boards as possible, you can only hope and pray that the right candidate finds you. Meanwhile, your organization loses time and money while operating with less than full staff and taking time away from work to conduct interviews that may or may not lead to a successful hire.

In the best-case scenario, you find someone great, and you are just out the original time and money. In the worst-case scenario, time drags on, and no one who is right for the position ever applies, or you hire someone, and it doesn’t work out, hopefully only once. A thriving, growing company just does not have time for this every time they need to add to the team.

In short, IT staffing agencies will save your company both time and money. IT staffing agencies take the time to get to know the needs of both the company and the potential employees and takes the time to match the two in both technical and cultural aspects. This both decreases the amount of time needed to find a quality candidate and slashes the potential for a bad hire.

It allows your HR department to focus its time and energy on the daily needs of your organization rather than the time-consuming process of hiring a new employee. Rather than waiting around and hoping that the right candidate finds you, IT staffing agencies can access a much larger pool of candidates than the average business owner. Instead of just finding someone who “fits,” an IT staffing agency can help you find the best fit.

What Are Some Of The Best IT Staffing Agencies?

Toptal: Toptal originated as a freelance driven agency, Toptal specializes in remote work. They have been operating since 2010 and has a reputation for success. They rank highly among several publications as a top choice for staffing agencies.

Robert Half: Robert Half boasts a long history of success. Having been in business since 1948, Robert Half is one of the first staffing agencies to exist. Fortune Magazine has titled them the first in their industry in their list of the “World’s Most Admired Companies.”

Adecco: While Adecco is one of the younger organizations on this list, being founded in 1996, they have made a reputation for themselves as a successful staffing agency in the IT sector. While their home base is in Zurich, Switzerland, they work worldwide to help companies find quality candidates for open positions.

What IT Jobs Are Most In-Demand?

According to CIO.com, the most in-demand IT jobs that a staffing company can help with are:

Security professional
Cloud architect
Database administrator
Programmer analyst
Systems analyst
Mobile application developer
Network administrator
Software developer
DevOps engineer
Help desk and desktop support professionals

When deciding on an IT staffing organization, ask if there are any specific areas they specialize in.

How Are IT Staffing Agencies Paid?

There are different ways that a staffing organization can set up payment for its services. Most commonly, IT staffing agencies typically will bill by percentage, with specific fees for different circumstances.

It is important to discuss this information upfront with staffing agencies you are interested in working with.

What Should I Look For In An IT Staffing Agency?

Many staffing agencies are operating worldwide. There are an estimated 20,000 agencies in the US, and 2,600 of them specialize in the IT sector. Those numbers can seem overwhelming. How does one go about choosing which company to work with?

While there are many aspects of choosing a staffing agency to partner with your organization, above all, look for an IT staffing company that has a reputation for success. Consider which companies your competitors have chosen to work with. If an agency is successful in helping another organization operating in your niche, they will likely understand what your business needs as well.

Ask yourself what needs your organization has. Like choosing a car or a home, it is important to choose the company that best meets your needs as you decide which organization you want to partner with. Consider your budget and how much you want to be involved in the process.

Consider the following questions:

Where is this staffing agency located? Are they close enough to build a relationship with my organization in the long term? Are they well established in the region so that they can attract top candidates?
What is their history? How long have they been in business? Do they have a record of success? What have other organizations they have worked work have to say about them?
Do they have a large pool of resumes on file to match you with? Do they specialize in any specific type of contract?

Some of these questions you can answer with an internet search. Some of them you may need to meet with the agency to discuss. It is important to take the time to vet any organization you are interested in working with to make sure they will meet your company’s hiring needs.

See below to search IT staffing agencies in a specific city