Hours recover

Here's what happened last week ↓

1️⃣ US hours climb out of spring break hangover

Breaking: US staffing hours rebounded 2.4% week-over-week ending May 3rd, driven by commercial staffing's 2.8% surge.

The recovery:

• Commercial hours down just 3% year-over-year

• Professional hours still bleeding 8% annually

• Sequential growth as seasonal effects fade

• Employers still hoarding workers post-pandemic

Reality check: Demand remains constrained because nobody knows what tariffs will do to their business next month.

📶 Signal → Strategy: Shift recruiter capacity toward commercial sectors showing growth while tariff chaos continues.

Go deeper: Bullhorn Staffing Industry Indicator

2️⃣ UK temps surge as unemployment spikes

The big picture: UK temporary workforce jumped 7.4% while unemployment climbed to 4.5% in Q1 2025. (highest since summer 2021)

The contradictory numbers:

• Unemployment rate: 4.5% (4-year high)

• Regular pay growth: 5.6% annually

• Job vacancies: Down 42,000 to 761,000

• Over-50s re-entering workforce in droves

Translation: More people are unemployed, but temp demand is exploding. Welcome to the gig economy takeover.

📶 Signal → Strategy: Target over-50s re-entering work and capitalize on the 7.4% temp surge immediately.

Go deeper: ONS Employment Bulletin

3️⃣ TrueBlue tells HireQuest to get lost

Breaking: TrueBlue's board unanimously rejected HireQuest's $7.50 per share acquisition offer, calling it "opportunistic and undervalued."

The lowball drama:

• HireQuest's bid: $7.50/share (61% premium)

• Previous rejected offer: $12.30/share in February

• TrueBlue revenue: $1.57B vs HireQuest's $563.6M

• Stock surged 21% on rejection news

The burn: TrueBlue basically said "You're 40% of our size trying to buy us for peanuts. Hard pass."

📶 Signal → Strategy: Conduct M&A landscape assessment - consolidation pressure is real and coming fast.

Go deeper: Full rejection statement