Sectors & Industries IndustrialsStaffing & Employment Services
Best Staffing & Employment Service Stocks to Buy Now (2026)
Top staffing & employment service stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +28.50% per year, and are the best staffing & employment service stocks to buy now. Learn More.

Industry: Staffing & Employment Ser...

Growth Financials Momentum Sentiment Forecast Dividends Due Diligence

Staffing & Employment Services is Zen Rated A and is the 20th ranked industry out of 145 stock market industries

Ticker	Company	Price	Graham Fair Value	Graham Fair Value %	P/E	Forward P/E	P/S	P/B	PEG	Free Cash Flow	Free Cash Flow Yield	Book Value	BVPS	EV	EV/EBITDA
ZIP	ZIPRECRUITER INC	$4.41	N/A	N/A	12.97x	11.14x	0.80x	-10.72x	N/A	$15.06M	4.17%	-$33.81M	-0.41	$497.87M	5.56
HQI	HIREQUEST INC	$17.89	$5.05	254.03%	30.32x	24.77x	8.18x	3.61x	2.30x	$9.45M	3.83%	$68.86M	5.00	$247.03M	20.26
TBI	TRUEBLUE INC	$8.28	N/A	N/A	-4.38x	-148.92x	0.15x	0.99x	N/A	-$67.44M	-26.78%	$254.67M	8.37	$248.45M	-17.24
KFRC	KFORCE INC	$51.01	$22.74	124.36%	23.84x	19.70x	0.64x	7.39x	1.19x	$22.56M	2.64%	$123.63M	7.38	$1.02B	17.03
KELYA	KELLY SERVICES INC	$15.14	N/A	N/A	-1.94x	13.42x	0.13x	0.54x	N/A	$21.50M	4.10%	$982.00M	28.30	$630.34M	-13.33
MAN	MANPOWERGROUP INC	$41.49	$40.13	3.39%	18.69x	11.35x	0.10x	0.92x	0.41x	$69.20M	3.56%	$2.11B	44.91	$3.17B	8.52
TNET	TRINET GROUP INC	$70.70	$34.94	102.33%	18.80x	14.25x	0.67x	25.96x	1.20x	$288.00M	8.86%	$125.00M	2.72	$2.80B	7.38
NSP	INSPERITY INC	$51.38	N/A	N/A	-119.49x	24.06x	0.29x	32.17x	N/A	$194.00M	9.89%	$61.00M	1.60	$1.74B	26.37
KFY	KORN FERRY	$73.03	$35.46	105.97%	13.52x	12.66x	1.23x	2.00x	2.10x	$318.71M	8.67%	$1.99B	39.61	$3.78B	7.46
UPWK	UPWORK INC	$8.43	$9.19	-8.22%	10.54x	5.99x	1.33x	1.72x	0.46x	$175.55M	16.81%	$611.27M	4.93	$951.95M	5.48
BZ	KANZHUN LTD	$16.74	$50.38	-66.77%	11.20x	1.84x	5.87x	2.43x	0.11x	$679.12M	8.94%	$3.13B	6.90	$7.25B	N/A
ADP	AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING INC	$288.90	$84.68	241.19%	26.34x	23.33x	5.30x	19.03x	2.55x	$4.78B	4.11%	$6.03B	14.99	$115.95B	17.11
RHI	ROBERT HALF INC	$33.31	$15.70	112.12%	28.97x	26.18x	0.63x	2.82x	0.96x	$215.06M	6.46%	$1.21B	12.08	$3.33B	12.86
PAYX	PAYCHEX INC	$111.63	$36.97	201.98%	22.15x	18.36x	6.02x	10.72x	2.46x	$2.02B	5.08%	$3.71B	10.42	$43.70B	14.15
BBSI	BARRETT BUSINESS SERVICES INC	$32.55	$14.99	117.13%	23.42x	18.66x	0.63x	3.87x	1.13x	$15.52M	1.96%	$203.78M	8.37	$622.35M	8.14
IPDN	PROFESSIONAL DIVERSITY NETWORK INC	$2.66	N/A	N/A	-0.05x	N/A	0.16x	0.09x	N/A	-$2.26M	-225.08%	$13.95M	36.92	-$1.33M	0.21
STRR	STAR EQUITY HOLDINGS INC	$9.81	N/A	N/A	-3.88x	-8.61x	0.17x	0.61x	N/A	-$9.94M	-27.35%	$59.80M	16.14	$56.02M	-14.50
MHH	MASTECH DIGITAL INC	$6.35	$8.89	-28.58%	37.35x	19.34x	0.43x	0.83x	0.23x	$9.57M	12.55%	$91.81M	7.64	$42.80M	7.87
GLXG	GALAXY PAYROLL GROUP LTD	$0.91	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0.50x	N/A	N/A	N/A	$3.30M	1.81	-$2.47M	N/A
BGSF	BGSF INC	$4.40	N/A	N/A	-5.86x	-26.94x	0.51x	1.02x	N/A	-$3.42M	-7.35%	$46.05M	4.35	$35.91M	-5.99
CIRC	CIRCLE8 GROUP INC	$0.30	N/A	N/A	-0.14x	-0.49x	0.03x	-1.35x	N/A	-$23.28M	-95.36%	-$25.54M	-0.32	$587.75M	-4.53
NIXX	NIXXY INC	$0.23	N/A	N/A	-0.74x	N/A	0.05x	0.80x	N/A	-$2.90M	-45.22%	$8.27M	0.30	$7.36M	-1.49
JOB	GEE GROUP INC	$0.21	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0.27x	0.45x	N/A	$1.42M	6.25%	$50.68M	0.46	$6.05M	3.64

Staffing & Employment Service Stocks FAQ

What are the best staffing & employment service stocks to buy right now in Oct 2026?

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best staffing & employment service stocks to buy right now are:

1. Ziprecruiter (NYSE:ZIP)

Ziprecruiter (NYSE:ZIP) is the #1 top staffing & employment service stock out of 23 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +17.17% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Ziprecruiter (NYSE:ZIP) is: Value: C, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Ziprecruiter (NYSE:ZIP) has a Due Diligence Score of 19, which is -16 points lower than the staffing & employment service industry average of 35. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates ZIP as a "B".

ZIP passed 6 out of 33 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Ziprecruiter has seen its stock return 2.32% over the past year, overperforming other staffing & employment service stocks by 12 percentage points.

Ziprecruiter has an average 1 year price target of $4.33, a downside of -1.75% from Ziprecruiter's current stock price of $4.41.

Ziprecruiter stock has a consensus Hold recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 3 analysts covering Ziprecruiter, 0% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 100% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

2. Hirequest (NASDAQ:HQI)

Hirequest (NASDAQ:HQI) is the #2 top staffing & employment service stock out of 23 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +17.17% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Hirequest (NASDAQ:HQI) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: A, Sentiment: A, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Hirequest (NASDAQ:HQI) has a Due Diligence Score of 53, which is 18 points higher than the staffing & employment service industry average of 35.

HQI passed 18 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Hirequest has seen its stock return 110.47% over the past year, overperforming other staffing & employment service stocks by 121 percentage points.

Hirequest has an average 1 year price target of $17.00, a downside of -4.97% from Hirequest's current stock price of $17.89.

Hirequest stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering Hirequest, 50% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 50% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

3. Trueblue (NYSE:TBI)

Trueblue (NYSE:TBI) is the #3 top staffing & employment service stock out of 23 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +17.17% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Trueblue (NYSE:TBI) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: B, Sentiment: A, Safety: B, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Trueblue (NYSE:TBI) has a Due Diligence Score of 20, which is -15 points lower than the staffing & employment service industry average of 35. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates TBI as a "B".

TBI passed 6 out of 33 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Trueblue has seen its stock return 54.77% over the past year, overperforming other staffing & employment service stocks by 65 percentage points.

What are the staffing & employment service stocks with highest dividends?

Out of 13 staffing & employment service stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 staffing & employment service stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

1. Robert Half (NYSE:RHI)

Robert Half (NYSE:RHI) has an annual dividend yield of 7.08%, which is 4 percentage points higher than the staffing & employment service industry average of 2.93%. Robert Half's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Robert Half's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Robert Half's dividend payout ratio of 205.2% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

2. Insperity (NYSE:NSP)

Insperity (NYSE:NSP) has an annual dividend yield of 4.67%, which is 2 percentage points higher than the staffing & employment service industry average of 2.93%. Insperity's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% two times in the last 10 years. Insperity's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Insperity's dividend payout ratio of -558.1% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

3. Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) has an annual dividend yield of 4.07%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the staffing & employment service industry average of 2.93%. Paychex's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Paychex's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Paychex's dividend payout ratio of 90.1% indicates that its dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Why are staffing & employment service stocks up?

Staffing & employment service stocks were up 0.02% in the last day, and up 2.64% over the last week.

We couldn't find a catalyst for why staffing & employment service stocks are up.

What are the most undervalued staffing & employment service stocks?

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued staffing & employment service stocks right now are:

1. Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) is the most undervalued staffing & employment service stock based on its Valuation Rating of A. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Upwork has a valuation score of 71, which is 39 points higher than the staffing & employment service industry average of 32. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Upwork's stock has dropped -49.64% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the staffing & employment service industry by -39 percentage points.

2. Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY)

Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY) is the second most undervalued staffing & employment service stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Korn Ferry has a valuation score of 43, which is 11 points higher than the staffing & employment service industry average of 32. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Korn Ferry's stock has gained 6.97% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the staffing & employment service industry by 17 percentage points.

3. Kanzhun (NASDAQ:BZ)

Kanzhun (NASDAQ:BZ) is the third most undervalued staffing & employment service stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Kanzhun has a valuation score of 100, which is 68 points higher than the staffing & employment service industry average of 32. It passed 7 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Kanzhun's stock has dropped -22.14% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the staffing & employment service industry by -12 percentage points.

Are staffing & employment service stocks a good buy now?

42.86% of staffing & employment service stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect staffing & employment service stocks to rise by 4.06% over the next year.

0% of staffing & employment service stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 37.5% of staffing & employment service stocks are rated B (Buy), 56.25% are rated C (Hold), 0% are rated D (Sell), and 6.25% are rated F (Strong Sell).

What is the average p/e ratio of the staffing & employment services industry?

The average P/E ratio of the staffing & employment services industry is 22.47x.

WallStreetZen does not provide financial advice and does not issue recommendations or offers to buy stock or sell any security.

Information is provided 'as-is' and solely for informational purposes and is not advice. WallStreetZen does not bear any responsibility for any losses or damage that may occur as a result of reliance on this data.