Staffing agencies in Atlanta: 1,531 locations, Georgia's rules and how to compare quotes

This report is for Atlanta employers comparing agencies, people looking for work through one, and B2B sellers whose customers are staffing firms.

Atlanta staffing agencies by the numbers

The figures are for the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metro Area (CBSA 12060), counting two industry codes: NAICS 56131 (Employment Placement Agencies and Executive Search Services) and NAICS 56132 (Temporary Help Services). Source: US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023.

Split by industry, from the Census Bureau's 2023 metro file:

The employee count looks large because temp agencies employ the people they place. Census defines temporary help services as supplying workers to clients' businesses, with the workers being "employees of the temporary help services establishment." So 90% of Atlanta's staffing headcount is temps on assignment at warehouses, offices and plants, about 60 per temp location. Executive search is the opposite: 251 offices with 1,118 people between them, 208 of those offices with fewer than five employees, and the highest pay in the industry.

Size and where they are

That's 1,001 locations with 1 to 19 employees, 317 with 20 to 99 and 213 with 100 or more, the last figure being the total less the smaller bands. The temp help row shows what's in the top: 44 temp locations with 250 to 499 employees and 12 with 500 to 999, and its published classes account for all 1,009 temp locations, so none reached 1,000.

The Census Bureau published the missing employee figures but flagged them as high-noise: the noise it adds for confidentiality moved them by 5% or more. Fulton has 38% of the locations and 38% of the employees. Clayton County has few agencies but big ones, about 61 employees per location against 44 in Fulton.

County Business Patterns counts establishments with paid employees, not companies, so a national brand's ten Atlanta branches count ten times and recruiters with no payroll are left out. Professional employer organizations (NAICS 561330, another 64 locations with 2,198 employees) aren't included, and the count is a March snapshot.

What Georgia law says about temp work

• The agency is the employer, across assignments. Georgia's unemployment law (O.C.G.A. 34-8-46) defines a temporary help contracting firm as a business that employs people and supplies them to clients, and says employment with one "is characterized by a series of limited-term assignments." Finishing one assignment doesn't end your employment with the agency, so stay in touch with it between jobs.
• Workers' compensation. The State Board of Workers' Compensation says most employers with three or more employees must carry coverage, with penalties of up to $5,000 per violation. Its online coverage verification tells you whether a business has a policy on record; self-insured businesses and group funds aren't in the search.
• Minimum wage. Georgia's own minimum is $5.15, but employers covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act must pay $7.25, according to the US Department of Labor. Atlanta temp pay is set by the market well above either.

We found no Georgia licence or registry for general staffing agencies, so the checks below are yours to run.

How to choose and vet an Atlanta agency

1. Name the kind you need. Light industrial temp for warehouse and production shifts; office and call center temp; healthcare staffing for nurses and aides; IT and finance contractors; temp-to-hire if you want a trial; direct hire for permanent staff; executive search for senior roles; a PEO if you want payroll and benefits run for people you already employ.
2. Shortlist three agencies that already fill that role near your site. Their current job ads tell you more than their brochures.
3. Verify workers' compensation with the State Board's search and ask for a certificate naming your company.
4. Ask for the same quote from each: pay rate, markup, overtime rate, and the conversion terms if you hire a temp.
5. Price the whole plan, as in the example below, then call two references with similar sites.

Worked example: three quotes for the same 20 workers

Illustrative example. The company and every rate are invented to show the arithmetic.

Peachtree Parcel (peachtreeparcel.example) needs 20 pickers in Gwinnett County for 10 weeks at 40 hours, 400 hours each, and plans to hire the best 5 at the end.

Agency A has the lowest bill rate and Agency C the lowest pay rate, yet Agency B is the cheapest plan and pays workers the most, which usually helps attendance. Agency C's percentage conversion fee costs more than the whole difference in bill rates.

Atlanta's public staffing company

One SEC-registered, listed company in the staffing industry codes (SIC 7361 to 7363) has its headquarters in the metro, and it isn't a local temp agency.

DLH carries the help supply services code, SIC 7363, from its days as TeamStaff Inc., its name until 2012. Its 10-K says revenue fell $51.4 million from the prior year as some federal contracts moved to small business contractors. If you're an Atlanta employer looking for temps, you'll be dealing with private agencies and the branches of national firms.

Selling to Atlanta staffing agencies

Three groups buy differently:

• Large temp branches. The 213 locations with 100 or more employees, mostly temp help in Fulton, Gwinnett, Clayton and Henry counties, buy screening, timekeeping, workers' compensation, safety training and worker transportation. Branch and regional operations managers run the evaluation; national brands sign centrally.
• Healthcare and IT staffing. Specialist firms buy credential verification, skills testing and candidate data, and their recruiters feel the pain first.
• Executive search. 251 small, well-paid offices buy research, assessments and reference checking; the managing partner decides, usually fast.

Build the list from the American Staffing Association directory filtered to Georgia, then read job postings to place each firm in one of the three groups. Describe the segment to Bebop and it returns matching agencies and contacts, with a playbook for each account: who to talk to, what's happening at the firm and the angle to open with. To find the right person at each, see how to find decision makers.

Subject: Licence checks before [agency]'s next start date

Hi [first name],

I saw [agency] is placing [number] travel and per diem nurses at hospitals around Atlanta this month. Every start date means checking each nurse's licence and certifications again, and a lapsed one found late can cost the shift.

We monitor licences and certifications for your whole roster and flag anything expiring in the next 60 days.

Would a list of your current nurses' expiry dates be useful?

[Your name]

Local sources

Next step: see where Atlanta's temp demand comes from in the report on logistics companies in Atlanta.