Q2 2024 Overview
The North American staffing M&A market delivered a striking reversal in Q2 2024: 35 announced transactions, up 75% from Q1 and 20% from Q2 2023. The rebound was broad-based, with every major sector contributing, and included two landmark transactions that reinforced renewed confidence among large strategic acquirers.
Light industrial and commercial staffing led sector activity with nine transactions, recovering sharply from Q1’s four. Healthcare staffing — absent in Q1 — returned strongly with seven deals, matching IT staffing and consulting and other professional staffing. Executive search contributed five transactions. The breadth of the rebound was notable: no single sector carried the quarter.
Despite the surge in volume, the underlying supply of high-quality acquisition targets remains constrained. Active buyers in the market reported that attractive businesses are being acquired quickly and competitively when they do emerge — a dynamic that suggests the rebound reflects pent-up demand and opportunistic activity as much as a structural shift in market conditions. Hours worked in the US staffing industry declined 11% year-over-year through Q2, a cautionary signal for the broader sector’s financial health.
Momentum Advisory Partners completed its 11th staffing transaction in Q2, advising Connect Life Sciences on its sale to Argosy Healthcare Partners — a lower middle-market PE fund focused exclusively on healthcare. The transaction generated strong buyer interest and resulted in a competitive process, consistent with the broader market dynamic of high demand for quality assets in specialized segments.
“The rebound in Q2 is real, but it’s being driven by pent-up demand and a scarcity of quality targets — not a fundamental shift in the market. When the right asset emerges, buyers move quickly and competitively. That’s exactly what we saw with Connect Life Sciences.”
Akash Taneja, Founder & Managing Partner, Momentum Advisory PartnersSector Highlights
Light industrial and commercial staffing led the quarter with nine transactions — more than double its Q1 contribution — as buyers accelerated consolidation in a segment where scale and geographic density create meaningful operational advantages. Healthcare staffing returned with seven deals spanning locum tenens, travel nursing, and anesthesiology staffing, reflecting ongoing conviction in a sector experiencing structural workforce shortages. IT staffing and consulting and other professional staffing each contributed seven transactions, spanning enterprise technology, engineering, legal, and finance. Executive search rounded out the quarter with five deals.
Notable Transactions
Two transactions defined the quarter at the top of the market. Kelly Services acquired Motion Recruitment Partners from Littlejohn & Co. for $425 million — one of the largest staffing transactions of the year — adding IT staffing, managed solutions, and RPO capabilities and significantly expanding Kelly’s technology-focused service offerings. Cognizant agreed to acquire Belcan LLC for approximately $1.3 billion, targeting mission-critical digital engineering services across aerospace, defense, space, and marine verticals. (Note: The Cognizant/Belcan transaction formally closed in Q3 2024.) Argosy Healthcare Partners recapitalized Connect Life Sciences — Momentum’s 11th completed transaction — in a deal that demonstrated the competitive dynamics for specialized life sciences recruiting firms.
What This Means for Staffing Founders
- Pent-up demand is real — but selective. The Q2 surge reflects buyers who waited through a difficult 2023 finally acting. That demand is concentrated on quality assets with strong fundamentals. Generalist businesses without differentiation are not benefiting equally from the rebound.
- Quality scarcity is your pricing power. The most consistent feedback from active acquirers is that high-quality targets are hard to find and hotly contested when they appear. A well-prepared, well-positioned business coming to market today faces intense buyer competition — which translates directly into better outcomes for sellers.
- Healthcare and IT remain the most sought-after segments. Seven transactions each in Q2 2024 — after healthcare’s complete absence in Q1 — reinforces that these sectors attract the deepest and most competitive buyer pools. Structural workforce shortages and digital transformation spending are secular tailwinds that acquirers are paying for.
- Sustaining the rebound is not guaranteed. Industry hours worked declined 11% year-over-year through Q2. The M&A activity is outrunning the underlying business performance of the staffing sector, which raises questions about how long the momentum continues without a fundamental improvement in staffing demand.