Are job orders going up or down? And what does it take to fill them? Each month, Bullhorn tracks key indicators from our proprietary data to reveal changes in the global hiring landscape. Check in at the start of every month for the latest trends in permanent and temporary hiring.
Month ending February 28, 2026 Last updated March 2, 2026
Temporary recruitment level with 2025
Temporary job orders are exactly where they were in February of 2025. Job activity fell 6.7% from February, but that is a fairly typical seasonal pattern as January often sees a flurry of activity as the holidays end and new budget seasons begin. And temporary fill rates continue their steady rise of the last two to three years. Recruiter effort is up a little this month as they work through the January backlog, but remains relatively stable over the long term. All of this points to a positive trend in temporary staffing.
Permanent jobs per recruiter are still down 4.6% from this time last year, and down 6.4% from January. The sequential decline is expected, but the pattern does signal declining permanent job activity. And recruiter effort is creeping up as employers remain picky about hiring and recruiters have more time to spend on each opportunity with fewer jobs overall. And with fill rates also declining, employers may still be hesitant to fill permanent roles in the current economic environment.
Permanent job orders down 4.6% year over year
Temp job fill rates up 13% year over year
Recruiter effort is largely stable in February
Methodology
Hiring outlook metrics were calculated from Bullhorn ATS data for customers that have opted in to share aggregated data. Customers were qualified as professional or commercial if the majority of their placements were within these industries. Temporary/contingent placements are those with a set end date; permanent/direct hire placements are those without.
Jobs orders per recruiter is calculated as the volume of job order records created divided by the unique number of users within the calendar month.
Job fill rate is calculated as the proportion of job order records that were placed within 90 days of their open date. This is a trailing indicator that covers jobs created three calendar months prior to the period.
Submissions per job order is calculated as the volume of client submissions divided by the volume of job orders in the period. This metric represents records created in the previous calendar month.
