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 contract hiring.
Month ending 28 February 2026 Last updated 3 March 2026
Contract activity stable and following seasonal patterns
Contract job activity declined 9% from January to February. A sequential decline in February is typical, but this was a steeper drop than in recent years. In spite of that, jobs per recruiter remain up 1% year over year, possibly signaling a stabilisation in contract hiring. Recruiter effort crept up slightly this month, again an expected seasonal pattern. Overall, the data suggest a typical first with a lot of activity in January and recruiters working hard to fill those jobs.
After starting the year below 2025 levels, permanent job activity in February is nearly on par with the previous year. And fill rates dropped after three months at a steady level, so there may be a mild slowdown in permanent staffing. Permanent coverage rates crept up this month, likely due both to seasonal factors and recruiters submitting more CVs for the jobs they do have.
Contract job activity down from January
Fill rates down 3% compared to February 2025
Recruiter effort rising for permanent staffing
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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.
